Occupation Writer/ singer Name Theodore Taylor | Role Author Movies The Maldonado Miracle | |
 | ||
Born Theodore Langhans TaylorJune 23, 1921 ( 1921-06-23 ) Spouse Flora Schoenleber (m. 1981–2006), Gweneth Goodwin (m. 1946–1979) Awards Edgar Award for Best Young Adult, Jane Addams Children's Book Award Books The Cay, Timothy of the Cay, The Bomb, The Trouble With Tuck, Ice Drift Similar People Salma Hayek, Don Schain, Mare Winningham, Ruben Blades, Peter Fonda | ||
Theodore taylor talks about his life
Theodore Langhans Taylor (June 23, 1921, Statesville, North Carolina, United States – October 26, 2006, Laguna Beach, California) was an American 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.
Contents
Taylor died on October 26, 2006 in Laguna Beach, CA, from complications of a heart attack.
The Cay
The Cay, Taylor's story of a racially prejudiced white boy stranded with a black man, has become perhaps the most beloved of his young adult novels. It took only three weeks to complete, and has seen worldwide sales around four million. Taylor based the character of the boy in his book on a childhood friend. "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 had rescued him from the ocean, especially after he goes blind. For a short period of time The Cay was banned and was classified as racist.
Timothy of the Cay
In 1993, Taylor wrote and published the follow-up to The Cay, which he titled Timothy of the Cay. It describes the life of Timothy before his encounter with Phillip Enright, the narrator of The Cay, and what happened to Phillip after he was rescued, by which time Timothy had been dead for almost two months.