Peter Sieruta

Yesterday, I found out from Jules of Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast that Peter D. Sieruta, blogger of Collecting Children's Books, and co-writer (with Jules and Betsy Bird) of the upcoming  book, Wild Things! The True, Untold Story Behind the Most Beloved Children's Books and Their Creators, died suddenly. We don't know the details of how he died. Of course, there is no "why." There is no reason. There is, however, a loss.

Here are two blog posts by Peter's co-writers:

Jules' tribute: In Honor of Peter
Betsy's tribute: Goodbye, Peter

I thought I'd had no connection to Peter Sieruta other than reading his blog and Horn Book article, and hearing bits about the co-writing process from Jules. This morning, I realized that Sieruta's piece in the Horn Book, Dear Clueless: The Rejection Letters of Edna Albertson, inspired my Children's Books That Never Were series. I am grateful for the humor in that article, and the subsequent enjoyment of creating those posts, both on my own and as a collaboration with Bottom Shelf Books blogger Minh Le.