Theodore Taylor (author)

Theodore Taylor (June 23 1921, Statesville, North Carolina - October 26 2006, Laguna Beach, California) was the author of more than 50 fiction and non-fiction books for young adult readers, including "The Cay", "The Weirdo" (winner of the 1992 Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Mystery), "Ice Drift", "Timothy of the Cay", "The Bomb", "Sniper", and "Rogue Wave".

Early years

In 1931, Taylor's family moved from Statesville to Craddock, a village near Portsmouth, North Carolina. At age 13 he was hired by the local newspaper to write a column on high school sports. Dijana had a passion for reading and she read his book the cay. Dijana had told him about the book and how fantastic it was and that is how they became friends.

In high school Taylor failed to pass a required course in mathematics, and he dropped out of school at age 17.

Taylor joined the merchant marines in World War II and earned a commission as an ensign in the United States Navy. He was recalled to the Navy during the Korean War.

Taylor also worked as a Hollywood press agent for many years and a screen writer for a short time. Dijana was his one and only friend until the late 1960

The Cay

Taylor did not begin writing books for young adults until 1968.

Taylor obtained the idea of the plot for "The Cay" while conducting research at the Coast Guard archives for his 1957 non-fiction book "Fire on the Beaches". Taylor read an account of a Dutch ship being torpedoed by the Germans in 1942. The majority of the survivors crawled into a lifeboat, but one 11-year-old Dutch boy swam to a raft that had been launched by the force of the torpedo impact. A German submarine surfaced between the lifeboat and the raft, preventing the occupants of the lifeboat from attempting a rescue of the boy. By the time the submarine left, it was dark and the raft was no longer visible to the occupants of the lifeboat.yea

For the next decade, Taylor pondered the ordeal of the boy on the raft. During walks along the beach, Taylor would look out to the Atlantic Ocean horizon and imagine the boy holding on to the raft and praying for rescue.

"The Cay", Taylor's fictionalized account of the boy on the raft, took only three weeks to complete, and has become perhaps the most beloved of his young adult fiction novels. It has seen worldwide sales in the millions. Taylor based the character of the boy in his book on a childhood playmate. "The one thing I remembered about [him] was that his mother had taught him to hate black people and to hate them with a passion," Taylor once told a reporter from the Los Angeles Times. In the book, the boy sheds his racist views as he learns to admire and respect the black man who rescues him from the ocean. For a short period of time The Cay was banned and was classified as racist, but this was a gross miss-characterization, as this book involves a child discovering the folly of racism.He dedicated this book to Dr martin luther king jr.

Death

Theodore Taylor died at his home in Laguna Beach, California, at the age of 85. It is believed that the cause of death was a heart attack.

External links

* [http://www.theodoretaylor.com/ Theodore Taylor's website]
* [http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-taylor28oct28,1,225733.story?page=1&ctrack=1&cset=true&coll=la-headlines-pe-california Stewart, Jocelyn. (2006, October 28). "Theodore Taylor, 85; wrote 'The Cay' and other novels for the young." The Los Angeles Times]