Several years ago, I called my parents to tell them that I had found an amazing book, Honey for a Child's Heart: The Imaginative Use of Books in Family Life by Gladys Hunt. After I had rattled off a half dozen reasons that I loved the book, my mom asked me, "Did you know that we read Honey when you were a little boy and used it to find great books to read with you?" I was floored. Like Columbus, I thought that I had discovered something truly new. Apparently not.
My mother went on to tell me that not only were they well acquainted with the book, they were well acquainted with the author herself. My father, it turns out, had roomed with Gladys's son for a season before my parents were married.
It was not more than a few weeks after this conversation about my "discovery" that my dad bumped into Gladys at a church he was visiting in Michigan. He told her how much I was enjoying her book and how it had inspired my Tumblon work, as well as my love for reading with my daughter. As a result of that conversation, Gladys not only agreed to let us use the book list from Honey for a Child's Heart as the "brains" for Tumblon's literature recommendations; she also agreed to contribute to a featured blog on Tumblon. She continued actively writing for a new generation of media-savvy, literature-loving parents right up to the time that she went into open heart surgery in April. She even sent me a batch of posts to sequence during her recovery! By her wit, wisdom and willingness to embrace new media (she was 83 this year, and a blogger!), she extended the reach of her tremendous acquaintance with, and love for, great children's literature to yet another generation of parents.
On July 4, 2010, Gladys passed into the presence of her Creator; and she would be the last one to grieve her passing. Her life was filled with the confidence that stories matter because they are echoes of a greater, truer Reality for which we were created. Her wholehearted embrace of goodness, truth and beauty - particularly in literature - recognized that these things were but a foretaste of the great Feast. She had experienced the reconciliation of God through Jesus Christ that gave her joy and confidence in life, and peace in death. Indeed, this peace with God in life, in death, and after death was what she desired and sought for her family, friends and readers as well.
As we remember and celebrate Gladys's life, work and writing, it is hard to escape the lesson that she taught so well:Words matter; well-chosen words awaken in us the glory of being human, and inspire us to live well, speak well, write well, and die well. Gladys was a gracious, gifted writer. May her life and writing cause many others to "discover" the wonder of great children's literature as I did - and see the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ.
(Gladys's obituary can be found here, as well as a tribute from InterVarsity with which she worked for years.)
Gladys Hunt: Well Remembered for Well Chosen Words
July 8, 2010
Sad news to hear that her time here is done, but great to know she is in the presence of God. That was a life well lived and her books will continue to help people (parents in particular) for many years to come.
— by Lauren Hart on July 8, 2010