Background
Gary David Schmidt was born on April 14, 1957, in Hicksville, New York, United States. He is a son of Robert H. Schmidt, a bank vice-president, and Jeanne A. Schmidt, a teacher.
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Illinois, United States
In 1981, Gary got a Master of Arts degree in Literature from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. In 1985, Schmidt received a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Medieval Literature from the same university.
255 Grapevine Rd, Wenham, MA 01984, United States
In 1979, Gary received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Gordon College.
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Illinois, United States
In 1981, Gary got a Master of Arts degree in Literature from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. In 1985, Schmidt received a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Medieval Literature from the same university.
(Moving to his grandparents' centuries-old farm after the ...)
Moving to his grandparents' centuries-old farm after the death of his mother, Cole finds his grief eased by his new life and friends, but he becomes concerned as his father's grief continues to deepen.
https://www.amazon.com/Sin-Eater-Gary-D-Schmidt/dp/0525675418/?tag=2022091-20
1996
(As night falls, the women gather their children to listen...)
As night falls, the women gather their children to listen to Mara tell her stories. They are stories of light and hope and freedom, stories of despair and stories of miracles, stories of expected pain and stories of unexpected joy — all told in the darkness of the concentration camp barracks.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005E8AE2W/?tag=2022091-20
2001
(It only takes a few hours for Turner Buckminster to start...)
It only takes a few hours for Turner Buckminster to start hating Phippsburg, Maine. No one in town will let him forget that he's a minister's son, even if he doesn't act like one. But then he meets Lizzie Bright Griffin, a smart and sassy girl from a poor nearby island community, founded by former slaves. Despite his father's-and the town's-disapproval of their friendship, Turner spends time with Lizzie, and it opens up a whole new world to him, filled with the mystery and wonder of Maine's rocky coast.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003K16PIC/?tag=2022091-20
2004
("The Wednesday Wars" is a wonderfully witty and compellin...)
"The Wednesday Wars" is a wonderfully witty and compelling story about a teenage boy’s mishaps and adventures over the course of the 1967–1968 school year in Long Island, New York.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003JTHWN2/?tag=2022091-20
2007
(As a fourteen-year-old, who just moved to a new town, wit...)
As a fourteen-year-old, who just moved to a new town, with no friends and a louse for an older brother, Doug Swieteck has all the stats stacked against him. So begins a coming-of-age masterwork, full of equal parts comedy and tragedy from Gary D. Schmidt.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004UMP47I/?tag=2022091-20
2011
(As the illegitimate son of a Spanish nobleman and a forme...)
As the illegitimate son of a Spanish nobleman and a former slave, Martin de Porres was born into extreme poverty. Even so, his mother begged the church fathers to allow him into the priesthood. Instead, Martin was accepted as a servant boy. But soon, the young man was performing miracles.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0547612184/?tag=2022091-20
2012
(This is a story about Joseph, a father at thirteen, who h...)
This is a story about Joseph, a father at thirteen, who has never seen his daughter, Jupiter. After spending time in a juvenile facility, he’s placed with a foster family on a farm in rural Maine. Here Joseph, damaged and withdrawn, meets twelve-year-old Jack, who narrates the account of the troubled, passionate teen, who wants to find his baby at any cost. In this riveting novel, two boys discover the true meaning of family and the sacrifices it requires.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QPIM608/?tag=2022091-20
2015
(Carter Jones is astonished early one morning, when he fin...)
Carter Jones is astonished early one morning, when he finds a real English butler, bowler hat and all, on the doorstep — one, who stays to help the Jones family, which is a little bit broken.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07898G99J/?tag=2022091-20
2019
Gary David Schmidt was born on April 14, 1957, in Hicksville, New York, United States. He is a son of Robert H. Schmidt, a bank vice-president, and Jeanne A. Schmidt, a teacher.
In 1979, Gary received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Gordon College. Later, he continued his education at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, where he got a Master of Arts degree in Literature in 1981. In 1985, Schmidt received a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Medieval Literature from the same university.
In 1979, Gary began his career as a teaching assistant at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, a post he held till 1985, when he was appointed a Professor of English at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, a post he still holds. Since 1987, Schmidt has aslo been working as a book reviewer. Moreover, from 1991 till 1997, he served as a head of English Department at Calvin College.
Also, Gary teaches writing courses in prisons and detention centers.
(Moving to his grandparents' centuries-old farm after the ...)
1996(Carter Jones is astonished early one morning, when he fin...)
2019("The Wednesday Wars" is a wonderfully witty and compellin...)
2007(As a fourteen-year-old, who just moved to a new town, wit...)
2011(As the illegitimate son of a Spanish nobleman and a forme...)
2012(This work retells twenty-five Bible stories, exploring th...)
1997(This is a story about Joseph, a father at thirteen, who h...)
2015(It only takes a few hours for Turner Buckminster to start...)
2004(As night falls, the women gather their children to listen...)
2001Gary describes himself as a religious man.
Quotations:
"The light made the snowballs look yellow. Or at least I hoped that was the cause."
"If Romeo had never met Juliet, maybe they both would have still been alive, but what they would have been alive for is the question Shakespeare wants us to answer."
"We were both chumps. But you know what? It's not so bad when you're chumps together."
"Learn everything you can — everything. And then use all that you have learned to grow up too be a wise and good man."
"The world turns and the world spins, the tide runs in and the tide runs out, and there is nothing in the world more beautiful and more wonderful in all its evolved forms, than two souls, who look at each other straight on. And there is nothing more woeful and soul-saddening, than when they are parted...everything in the world rejoices in the touch, and everything in the world laments in the losing."
"Books can ignite fires in your mind, because they carry ideas for kindling and art for matches."
"She came over and looked at the picture. Then she took my hand. You know what that feels like? Like what the astronauts will feel when they step onto the moon for the very first time."
"Creativity is a god, who comes around only when he pleases, and it isn't very often. But when he does come around, he sits at my desk and folds his wings and I offer him whatever he wants."
"You know, when someone has been crying, something gets left in the air. It's not something you can see or smell, or feel. Or draw. But it's there."
"Why can't poets just say what they want to say and then shut up?"
Gary is a member of Children's Literature Association, Early English Text Society, Phi Kappa Phi and Phi Alpha Chi.
Physical Characteristics: In 1996, Gary was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer. During his medical treatment, he was exposed to a variety of other cancer patients, whose stories, he claims, served as inspiration for future novels and encouraged him to write primarily for children and young adults.
Gary married Anne E. Stickney, a writer, on December 22, 1979. Their marriage produced six children — James, Kathleen, Rebecca, David, Margaret and Benjamin. Anne died in 2013.