STEVE
SCHOLFIELD photo
Author Harriet
May Savitz is shown in her office at her Bradley Beach home.
Issues that are important to her are reflected in her books.
"Dear Daughters and Sons -- Three Essays on the American
Spirit . . . A Tribute" was prompted by the terrorist attacks
of Sept. 11, 2001. Her interest in civil rights for the
disabled resulted in several books, including the novel "Run
Don't Walk." |
Savitz has been writing since she was 9, professionally since she
was 27. She grew up in Newark, the daughter of an immigrant father
from Russia (Samuel Blatstein) who escaped the pogroms, and an
American-born mother (Susan Blatstein). She said she learned about
prejudice when she was whipped by a bigot with a belt at about age
8.
"I ran into my house and said I didn't want to be Jewish anymore!
That was my way of dealing with this beating that I didn't
understand."
After marriage to Ephraim Savitz, a pharmacist, the couple moved
to Plymouth Meeting in Pennsylvania (near Valley Forge) and raised a
daughter, Beth, and a son, Steve. Her husband ran Savitz Pharmacy
near Norristown; he died nine years ago. The couple was married for
35 years. To fulfill her creative impulses, Savitz began writing in
the rural area where they lived, near a Quaker community.
"My husband was my biggest fan. He came to all my speaking
engagements and gave me my first rolltop desk to write on. I still
have it all these years later!"
Savitz is the author of 21 books for young children and adults,
is the co-founder of the Philadelphia Children's Reading Roundtable,
and was the recipient of the 1981 outstanding Pennsylvania Author
Award.
Among her other recent works are "Growing Up at 62, Messages From
Somewhere: Inspiring Stories of Life After 60."
