On July 16, the Massachusetts Senate adjourned its formal session in memory of acclaimed author and Hatfield resident Jane Yolen.
Representative Lindsay Sabadosa and I read an adjournment during the formal session, joined in the chamber by Yolen’s daughter Heidi E. Y. Stemple and her partner Dennis Wherly.
The adjournment follows, and you can watch the adjournment at the 26 minute mark in this video.
Jane Yolen, the prolific and beloved author whose stories reshaped children’s literature and gave voice to myth, history, folklore, and imagination, died peacefully in June, at home with her family by her side.
Jane was born on February 11, 1939 in New York City, the first child of Isabel Berlin Yolen and Will Hyatt Yolen. A couple of years later she was joined by her brother Steve.
In New York City, she excelled in school, dancing, piano, and, of course, writing. She studied ballet at Balanchine’s school. During this time, she and Steve created a newspaper for their apartment building. Their mother typed and Xeroxed the papers which they sold for five cents each to the neighbors they’d interviewed.
In her 13th year, the family moved to Westport, Connecticut where she sang in the choir, was captain of the girls’ basketball team, won debate awards, was News Editor of the school paper, and was vice president of the Spanish and Latin Clubs. She matriculated to Smith College where, by senior year, she was president of the Press Board and had won poetry and journalism awards.
After college, she moved back to New York City and became an assistant editor at Knopf — writing during lunch breaks, evenings, and weekends. At work, she wrote copy for many books, including CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY. While she considered herself a poet and journalist, on her 22nd birthday, she sold her first children’s book — called PIRATES IN PETTICOATS. Shortly after, she sold her first picture book, SEE THIS LITTLE LINE illustrated by Kathleen Elgin.
It was there, in the Village, that she met David Stemple, whom she married several years later. For the better part of a year, they toured Europe and Israel, camping in their van and working on kibbutzes. They returned pregnant with their daughter Heidi. They settled in Massachusetts and had two boys. They bought a 15-acre farm in Hatfield with four barns — one of which they opened up for artisans including potters and leather workers, silversmiths, and instrument makers.
Jane was passionate about community — she was the second person to join the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and established its first regional conference in New England. She started the Western Massachusetts Illustrator’s Guild. She taught children’s literature at Smith College and lectured all over the country.
OWL MOON, illustrated by John Schoenherr, was published in 1988 and won the Caldecott metal.
Jane championed free speech, book access for all, our connection with the natural world, children confronting injustice, and trusted readers of all ages to take in the truth.
Her novel BRIAR ROSE was burned on the steps of the Kansas City Courthouse. She mentored other writers and wrote books to showcase new illustrators. Her books won many awards including The Christopher Medal, the Golden Kite Award, The Nebula, The World Fantasy Award, The Mythopoeic Award, The Sophie Brodie Medal, The Anne Izzard Storytelling Award, The Association of Jewish Libraries Award, and the Catholic Libraries Medal, as well as many awards for her full body-of-work. She has been honored many times by the Massachusetts Book Award committee, most notably in 2019 for MAPPING THE BONES. More importantly, she received mail from readers almost daily telling her what a difference her books had made in their lives.
Her husband David died in 2006 after 44 years of marriage and a hard-fought battle with cancer. During his treatment, she wrote a series of sonnets, one each day. THE RADIATION SONNETS was published and it helped countless readers through their own medical crises.
In 2018 Jane published her 365th and 366th book on the same day. And in 2026, she published her 450th book.
It’s hard to overstate the role Jane played in the field of children’s literature. She believed that books for children were one of the most important building blocks of childhood and she refused to talk down to readers of any age. That said, she never took herself too seriously. She loved a pun and any kind of world play. She was known to climb atop a piano and belt out a song. And she loved to remind writers that the magic word for all writing was BIC which was short for “Butt In Chair.” Scholarships in her name will continue to support writers into the future.
She was predeceased by her parents, Will and Isabel Yolen and her husband David Stemple. She is survived by her brother Steven Yolen, her children, Heidi E.Y. Stemple, Adam Stemple, and Jason Stemple, her daughters-in-law Elizabeth and Joanne, as well as her grandchildren, Maddison, Ariel, David, Caroline, and Amelia, her grandson-in-law Richard, her son-out-law Dennis, and her partner Peter.
Beyond that, she will be missed deeply by her wider creative family of authors, illustrators, and readers. Thankfully, her legacy of story will live on in her books.
