Please read and study "Clara Schumann" and observe what it takes to be an award-winning, first-rate biography for children. Suzanne bring the Clara to life by using excerpts from her diaries and letters. At age six Clara was already a piano virtuoso. Her father was very strict and had her performing recitals by age nine. Clara fell in love with one of her father's piano students and against her father's will marries Robert Schumann. This was a marriage troubled by Robert's bouts of depression which eventually led him to the insane asylum. Clara was devoted to her husband and his music and although he died at an early age she continued her own performing career for 35 more years.
Susanne has recently completed a biography of Jose Limon, a Mexican-American dancer and choreographer which will be published in 2005.
1.SR. Was their anyone from your childhood who inspired or encouraged you to read or write?
Susanna: My parents, who valued education, demonstrated a love of books andreading, took me to the library, and always had plenty of children's books in the house.
2.SR: When did you know or when did you develop your interest in writing?
Susanna: I had an English teacher in high school named Charles Aschmann. He had a big, booming voice and impossibly high standards, and we were all a little bit afraid of him. I learned to write in Mr. Aschmann's class, but didn't become interested in writing professionally until many years later.
3.SR: How did your interest in writing for children develop?
Susanna: Slowly. For about ten years I studied t'ai chi with Ed Young, who also happens to be a fantastic children's book illustrator. Ed would
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