Jean Merrill
Jean Merrill was a prolific American author renowned for her contributions to children's literature, with over twenty-five published works spanning various formats, including picture books and pseudo-scholarly narratives. Born in Rochester, New York, Merrill enjoyed an adventurous upbringing on a farm, fostering her lifelong appreciation for nature and the outdoors. She pursued her education in English at Allegheny College and Wellesley College, which laid the groundwork for her career in writing and editing.
Merrill is perhaps best known for her novel "The Pushcart War," which humorously depicts the conflict between pushcart vendors and truckers, highlighting themes of resilience and ingenuity among the underprivileged. Collaborating closely with illustrator Ronni Solbert, Merrill produced numerous beloved titles, blending her storytelling with vivid illustrations. Her work often reflects her commitment to creating meaningful and life-affirming narratives for young readers, influenced by her own formative experiences with literature. In addition to her writing, Merrill engaged with environmental causes, demonstrating her passion for the natural world through various memberships. Her stories have been adapted for television, radio, and stage, illustrating their enduring appeal and impact on audiences.
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Jean Merrill
- Born: January 27, 1923
- Birthplace: Rochester, New York
- Died: August 2, 2012
Biography
In her more than twenty-five publications for young people, Jean Merrill’s work ran the gamut from clever picture books such as The Elephant Who Liked to Smash Small Cars (1967) to books using the background of Southeast Asia, such as Shan’s Lucky Knife: A Burmese Folk Tale (1960) to the pseudo-scholarly “history” of The Pushcart War (1964). Many of her works were in collaboration with illustrator Ronni Solbert, with whom Merrill had a working relationship for nearly twenty years over eighteen projects.
Merrill was born in Rochester, New York, the daughter of Earl Dwight and Elsie Almetta (Fairbanks) Merrill, a teacher. She lived an outdoorsy childhood, growing up on an apple and dairy farm on Lake Ontario. She described a childhood of reading, of building rafts and forts, of making toy bows and arrows, and of collecting rocks and flowers. Merrill’s interest in the outdoors continued in later life with her fascination for fungi and her membership in the North American Mycological Association. Her interest in the environment was also manifest in her memberships in the Sierra Club and the Nature Conservancy.
She attended Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania, where she received a B.A. in English in 1944, followed by an M.A. from Wellesley College in 1945. Following college, Merrill began work as an assistant feature editor at Scholastic in New York City (1945-46), moving on later to a position as feature editor (1946-49). She also worked as an associate editor (1950-51) and editor (1956-57) at Literary Cavalcade, also in New York. At the same time, she began to publish children’s books, with her first, Henry, the Hand-Painted Mouse, being released in 1951. She published steadily from 1951 to 1974, even while embarking on editorial (1965-66) and consultant (1969-1971) positions for the Bank Street College of Education Publications Division.
Merrill’s best-known novel, The Pushcart War (1964), uses a pseudo-scholarly style to look back at the putative historical war between the truckers and the rebellious pushcart vendors. The underdog pushcart vendors use guerrilla tactics, such as shooting pins from peashooters into truck tires, to triumph over the more-powerful truckers. The novel is a comic masterpiece of the weak defeating the powerful.
Merrill’s works were adapted for television, radio, and stage. The Toothpaste Millionaire, the story of a successful young entrepreneur, became an ABC Afternoon Special in 1974, and The Pushcart War was adapted for radio, television, audiobook, and theater.
Merrill consciously approached her writing for children with a sense of obligation to create life-affirming books that have an important impact on young readers. She looked back to her own childhood as evidence of how books can have a lasting and significant influence on children and aspired to be a source of that influence for those who read her books.