11 Apr RIP: JAMES CROSS GIBLIN

One of my earliest collections was a book of poems called ME! published by Seabury Press in 1970. I worked with a young, enthusiastic editor, James Cross Giblin. We adored one another – our thoughts, our thinking, our philosophies.

ME! was to be an early picture book of poems dealing with a child’s self-concept. I included works by Gwendolyn Brooks, Charlotte Zolotow, Myra Cohn Livingston and even an offbeat Mother Goose rhyme.

Jim contracted Talavaldis Stubis to do the art. Stubis had done the Broadway poster for FUNNY GIRL, Barbra Streisand’s hit show in the ’60’s. One page in the book is truly Streisand-ish as a child boasts about herself while roller skating. A bit right from FUNNY GIRL.

I penned a poem “Toy Telephone” and dedicated it to “J.G.; another verse of mine from ME! -“This Tooth” has been reprinted over and over for more than four decades. I owe so much to Jim.

Through the years we kept in touch as he became editor at other houses, began his stellar career as a writer of non-fiction.  He was a dear friend.

I feel his loss, his love, his being. Thanks, Jim for allowing ME! to be me.