FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 1, 2007
Spokane, WA
CHRIS CRUTCHER TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST DISCRIMINATION
When acclaimed author Chris Crutcher speaks at the Traditions Hall of the Alumni Center at University of Southern Florida on April 10, 2007 from 2:00 to 4:00 PM, he will send a clear message to the people of Tampa and beyond. Legislative discrimination against gay and lesbian citizens is legalized bigotry. And bigotry is wrong.
“I believe there will come a time,” says the 60-year-old writer, “hopefully before I die, when we look back on the way we have treated the issue of homosexuality at the start of the twenty first century in the same way we now look back at the beginning of the civil rights era and wonder how such large portions of our population could have pandered to such bigotry. We will look back at ourselves and be forced to decide, in the privacy of our own thoughts, if we were part of the problem or part of the solution.”
Crutcher first became aware of the Hillsborough County problem in June of 2005 when a display of gay-friendly young adult titles – including two books he’d written --- was dismantled at West Gate Regional Library. His concern heightened when right-wing extremist Ronda Storms spearheaded (and passed) legislation banning all public demonstrations of gay pride in the county.
Though Crutcher is straight, he is no stranger to homophobic hysteria. The same books removed from the West Gate library shelves – stories that treat gay characters respectfully – and others he’s written have been challenged in communities across the nation.
In 2004, an Iowa middle school teacher used Crutcher’s short story, “In the Time I Get,” as part of her anti-bullying curriculum. The story introduces a man dying of AIDS and his friend’s personal challenge – how to remain compassionate against a backdrop of public fear. One parent of one student enrolled in the class was outraged. Crutcher was casting homosexual characters in a positive light, he said. He called for the removal of the book from all school shelves, saying Crutcher’s stories, “promoted the gay agenda.”
Similar challenges pop up at least six times a year. And Crutcher suspects for every case he hears about, half-a-dozen never rise to the audible surface. He doesn’t take the challenges personally, but neither does he shy away from the defense of his story lines and realistic characters.
“If you censor the story,” he says, “you censor the kids living those kinds of lives. I have to stand up against that.”
Unable to attend previous Brandon Pride events due to schedule conflicts, Crutcher jumped at the chance to express his solidarity on April 9 and 10. He looks forward to visiting Tampa, and to a series of meaningful public conversations.
"I believe all Americans who believe in freedom, tolerance and human rights have a responsibility to oppose bigotry and prejudice based on sexual orientation."
-- Coretta Scott King
CRUTCHER’S SCHEDULE
Monday, April 9, 2007
7:00 pm – Discussion at Sacred Grounds, 4819 E. Busch Blvd., Tampa, 33617, (813) 983-0837
10:00 pm – Gathering at Grand Central Station, 2612 Central Ave., St. Petersburg, FL 33712, (727) 327-8204
Tuesday, April 10, 20072:00 pm – University of South Florida presentation, Gibbons Alumni Center, Traditions Hall, 4202 E. Fowler Ave, CTR 246, Tamp FL 33620, (813) 974-2011
Many thanks to Shirley Rhodes, Dr. Linda Alexander and others at the University of South Florida’s School of Library and Information Sciences for making the April 10 presentation at Traditions Hall of the Alumni Center possible.
Many thanks to Mark Ferguson at Brandon Pride for making the initial invitation more than two years ago, and to a whole group of local alliances for equality for making the rest of Chris’s presentations possible.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT CHRIS CRUTCHER:
See his website: www.chriscrutcher.com.
FOR INTERVIEW OR OTHER PRESS REQUESTS:
Contact Chris Crutcher directly at
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Or contact his assistant Kelly Halls at
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Contact: Judith Krug
Executive Director, FTRF
312-280-4226
For Immediate Release
November 28, 2006
CHICAGO - Chris Crutcher, who has been one of the most frequently challenged authors over the past two decades, will be the featured speaker at a fundraiser for the Freedom to Read Foundation on Sunday, January 21, 2007. Doors will open at 5:45, and Crutcher’s talk will begin at 6:30 p.m., to be followed by a book signing. The event will take place at the Seattle Public Library.
The Spokane-based Crutcher, whose books include "Whale Talk," "Athletic Shorts," "The Sledding Hill" and "Running Loose," is one of the most popular authors in the Young Adult genre. He is the winner of YALSA's 2000 Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award, Writer Magazine's 2004 Writers Who Make A Difference Award, the National Council of Teachers of English’s 1998 National Intellectual Freedom Award and the prestigious ALAN Award, given by the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents.
According to Freedom to Read Foundation president John W. Berry, "Chris Crutcher is a remarkably strong voice for young adult readers and for intellectual freedom. He has stood with schools and libraries as they have faced challenges to his materials. He’s an advocate as well as a writer. He gets it. More to the point, he’s a truly engaging speaker with great stories about writing, reading, and intellectual freedom. Don’t miss this chance to hear Chris speak!"
Refreshments will be provided. Space is limited. The suggested donation to attend the event is $25.
· You may use the secure online donation form to donate now. Go to http://tinyurl.com/ylvzts
· Please indicate in the comments section that the donation is to attend the Chris Crutcher Fundraiser.
· You may call the Freedom to Read Foundation office with your credit card information. Call (800) 545-2433 x4226.
· You also may write a check, payable to the Freedom to Read Foundation (memo line: Chris Crutcher Fundraiser) and mail it to FTRF, 50 East Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611.
· Donations (by cash, checks, or credit card) also will be accepted at the event based on space availability.
For more information, visit http://www.ala.org/chriscrutcher or contact Jonathan Kelley at
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
or (800) 545-2433 x4226.
Copies of Crutcher’s books will be on sale at the event, and all donations from sales will go to the Freedom to Read Foundation.
The event is being held in conjunction with the 2007 American Library Association Midwinter Meeting, and is sponsored in part by HarperCollins.
The Seattle Public Library is located at 1000 Fourth Street (206-386-4636), between Spring and Madison Streets. The library is approximately half a mile (six blocks) from the Washington State Convention and Trade Center (Seventh Ave. and Pike St.). Parking is available nearby.
Nichole Gilbert
Program Officer
Young Adult Library Services Association
ph. 1-800-545-2433 ext.4387
www.ala.org/yalsa
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 | | Donald Rubin, co-founder of the Rubin Museum of Art, Judy Blume and Chris Crutcher at the National Coalition Against Censorship's annual fundraiser in Manhattan, November 7, 2005. Many thanks to Joan Bertin for sharing the photographs. |
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 | | For more about the National Coalition Against Censorship, click this page or visit www.ncac.org. |
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 | | Crutcher stands while his editors Susan Hirschman and Virginia Duncan and other HarperCollins supporters look on. |
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November 7, 2005
NCAC Acceptance Speech
by Chris Crutcher
It’s an honor to accept this award in the company of so many who could just as easily be receiving it. My editors, old and new, Susan Hirschman and Virginia Duncan, who never once flinched as I delivered manuscript after manuscript filled with fictionalized versions of the desperate lives that peopled my world as a child abuse and neglect therapist and who knew that backing off the language of that truth meant backing off the truth of those people’s lives; The members of the NCAC who tirelessly draw their swords against those who believe our children’s emotional and spiritual safety lies in ignorance, and who fight that threat to our most basic freedom, freedom of the mind.
I accept this award in the names of all those teachers and librarians who know a story is sometimes better than it ever had a right to be because of the history the reader brings to the reading, and who honor those readers’ histories, defying the censors, bringing those stories into their classrooms and libraries. And for the teachers of teachers in colleges and universities all over the country, who know the desperate times into which our educational system has fallen, because of simple, lazy notions requiring classroom teachers to test their students into comas, who know that if we don’t bring the passion of expression back into education, no child will be left behind because nobody’s going anywhere.
I accept this award in the name of the late Ted Hipple, a giant in the promotion of adolescent literature and a man as tough and articulate as any story he ever defended.
I accept it in the name of Mike Printz, that tough, funny, keep-me-behind-the-scenes librarian, the namesake of the Printz award, who, in response to my irritated distress to a review accusing me of cramming too much tough stuff into a story, said, “Hey, don’t worry about it. I know that guy. He’s an asshole.”
I accept this award in the names of those who went before me, the early warriors who fought the censorship battles with sticks and rocks, and a lot less support than I have. Judy Blume who knew the value of planting a character into young girls lives who would, with humor and insight, ease the doubt and fear of their budding sexuality and their relationship with God; Walter Dean Meyers, who tells his story of war in the razor sharp language of warriors, refusing to dilute the horror; because it is a story of war; Kurt Vonnegut, Alice Walker, Maya Angelou, Tim O’Brien, Robert Cormier; Robert Cormier… gentle, tough, grand and graceful Bob Cormier, who understood that, by matching the dark side of his characters to the dark side of his readers, some portion of the awful weight of that anvil of isolation all of us sometimes feel, could be lifted.
I accept this award in the name of every kid who ever found a character in a book and said, “This is my friend, and I will stand firm for my friend.”
And I accept this award in the names of all of us who know why the caged bird sings, and who stand fierce for the right of every human being to hear her song. Thank you. |
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Freedom to Read Week 2006
Calgary, Alberta
Canada
Many thanks to all those who made Chris's trip to Calgary for Freedom to Read Week possible, including Anne Jayne, Felicia Quon, Betsy Frasier, Janeen Werner-King, Jesse Linklater and many others. |
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The CBE Celebrates
Calgary’s Freedom to Read Week
(Janeen Werner-King, Acting Secondary ELA Specialist)
On Wednesday, March 1, 2006, Chris Crutcher, visited William Aberhart High School and Lester B. Pearson High School to speak about censorship and read from the official book of Freedom to Read Week, The Sledding Hill. Chris’s talk about censorship and his reading promoted many questions from students at both schools. His humour and openness encouraged students to engage in dialogue and conversation about censorship. Along with freedom to read, comes the other side, responsibility to respond personally and critically when we disagree with ideas. After his reading at Lester B. Pearson, a number of students walked across the street to the Village Square Library where they were able to talk with Chris in a smaller group and more informal setting.
The book was published by Harper Collins Canada in 2005, and Chris’s publisher sponsored his trip to Calgary. Curriculum Support, The Calgary Public Library, and the Freedom to Read Committee extend our thanks to Harper Collins for supporting literacy initiatives in our city.
In The Sledding Hill, Mr. Crutcher portrays a town divided by the demands by some members of the community that a book be pulled from the shelves of the school library and removed from the reading list in a high school English class. Those who challenge the book object to “bad words” and the portrayal of a gay character. Both sides of the censorship issue are examined.
In writing about censorship, Chris Crutcher has first hand experience. He is the author of young adult novels that have been challenged, including Whale Talk, Ironman, and Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes. He has visited communities where his books have been challenged, and spoken about censorship on many occasions.
Chris Crutcher, grew up in Cascade, Idaho, and he played a lot of sports, football, basketball, and track—even though his brother was the better athlete. Outside of school and sports he worked at the family service station where he learned to value hard work and joy of junk food. He is an author, teacher, family therapist—who speaks up, who causes cognitive dissonance—he raises those ideas and questions that may bother us at first, but they make us think, and grow. |
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 | | Chris Crutcher reading from The Sledding Hill at Aberhart. |
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 | | Chris Crutcher at Pearson. |
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 | Chris Crutcher interviewed by Jeff Collins for the CBC Homestretch.
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Many thanks to Betsy Frasier for the McNally Robinson pictures and for making it possible for Chris to be a part of FREEDOM TO READ in Calgary.
You rock, Betsy. You rock. |
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 | | Crutcher reading at Calgary's most popular bookstore. |
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 | | One more from McNally Robinson. |
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FFWD WEEKLY
Fighting censorship
Author Chris Crutcher speaks out against banning books |
FEATURE
Chris Crutcher
Wednesday, March 1 at 7 p.m.
McNally Robinson
Chris Crutcher is no stranger to censorship. The author and therapist – here for Freedom to Read Week, where his new book, The Sledding Hill, will be presented to city council – has had his books challenged since his first novel, Running Loose, was published in 1982.
His books detailing teen life have been attacked for their language and sexuality. "My experiences in the recent past have been with challenges made to Whale Talk and Athletic Shorts," says Crutcher. "A couple of the stories have characters that are gay, and any place with fundamentalist Christian groups won’t touch those issues."
The Sledding Hill hasn’t taken many hits yet – the book’s content, detailing the atmosphere and processes by which a book gets banned, is the real controversy. "I purposely put no bad words in it, so if they want to challenge it, it will have to be about the content," says Crutcher.
It’s frightening to think that such challenges to literature still occur. "I think it’s in as precarious a position as it has been in a long time," says Crutcher. "When the air cleared after the ‘60s, we had come to a better place where people knew about free speech. The whole conservative thing here has changed after the second Bush campaign. In places where you get banned, people don’t stand up to it, even if they don’t want to see it happen. Even librarians don’t want the fight, saying it’s not about banning books, but which ones should be banned."
Advocates of free speech will be incensed with the actions taken against authors like Crutcher, but teaching kids about these issues is equally important.
"Kids don’t like people taking stuff away from them. If it goes on, it’ll define what freedom is, put us in a place where we can’t talk to kids," he says. "If we don’t want to talk to them in books, then we don’t want to in life, either."
Events like Freedom to Read Week help to raise public awareness and encourage dialogue between parents and their children. "There’s a personal value to reading good stories, an intimacy with certain books you encounter that acts almost like a therapy session," says Crutcher. "There’s a real danger of people taking that away, because they’re afraid. Stories are one of those things that break things loose in a safe way." |
Reading rights
The Sledding Hill encourages discussion on censorship |
REVIEW
THE SLEDDING HILL
Chris Crutcher
HarperCollins, 240 pp.
The Sledding Hill by Chris Crutcher is a young adult novel about censorship. Because young adult books are those most often challenged or banned, The Calgary Freedom to Read Week committee has chosen to present this book to city council. The committee upholds the right of parents to choose what their own children read, but not dictate to other parents what their children read.
Billy, the 14-year-old narrator of The Sledding Hill, has just died in an accident. His friend Eddie, reeling from Billy’s loss, finds refuge in silence. He thinks he’s being haunted when Billy appears to him at the sledding hill, their old meeting place, encouraging him to speak up for himself.
At school, the teacher-librarian assigns Warren Peece, a novel by Chris Crutcher, to Eddie’s class. Students who have never read an entire book are hooked on it, but another teacher, who is also a preacher at a fundamentalist church, objects to the book’s contents. He mobilizes a group, Youth for Christ, along with some parents and several school board members to insist on the withdrawal of the book on the grounds that it is evil. In Peece, one character is homosexual, another considers an abortion, and young people use obscene language and are encouraged to question authority.
Crutcher presents the two sides of the censorship argument through adults as well as students. The teacher-librarian tells her class to "decide whether you think your mind is strong enough to hear tough stories, told in their native tongue – and let the censors know." Dan, the football hero who heads Youth for Christ, believes devoutly in his crusade against the book. Montana, a Goth dressed in black with "enough chains to start a towing company" speaks out in support of the book on behalf of her friends, who have begun to discuss these issues for the first time.
In The Sledding Hill, the author puts one of his own novels at the heart of a bitter censorship campaign. Crutcher has experienced real battles over his books in several U.S. jurisdictions, so this novel has a basis in fact. The Calgary Freedom to Read Week committee recommends The Sledding Hill to all young Calgarians who are free to read.
http://www.ffwdweekly.com/Issues/2006/0223/book2.htm | |
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