Judy Blume’s books have been passed from backpacks to nightstands and, decades later, into the hands of readers’ children. Beloved titles like Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, and Forever put words to the funny, awkward, and sometimes uncomfortable realities of growing up—and continue to find new readers today. Blume has retired from writing books and now relishes her time behind the counter at Books & Books at The Studios of Key West. On November 20, the Miami Book Fair will honor Blume at its Next Page Dinner, recognizing an author whose connection to the Magic City stretches back to her childhood in Miami Beach. We caught up with Blume to talk about her formative years, running her bookstore, and life in Key West.
Aventura: You spent part of your childhood in Miami Beach, an experience that later inspired Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself. What has stayed with you from those years?
Blume: Everything. I remember the whole thing. I can run it through my head. Those two years might have been the most important two years of my childhood, and maybe that’s because there was disruption. I was taken away from the life and the friends that I knew and was separated a little bit from my beloved father, not because of marital problems, but because the doctors in those days, if somebody was sick, they said, “Go to Florida.” My brother had had a kidney infection, and they said he couldn’t spend the winter in New Jersey. So we went with my mother and my grandmother, and my father, who was a dentist, had to stay in New Jersey. He flew down as often as he could. They turned out to be two very happy years in my life. I had a freedom in living in Florida that I never had in New Jersey. The weather was warm, and we could play outside even in the evenings. It was just a very freeing experience.
You’ve described yourself as a shy child. Did Miami Beach change that part of you?
Oh yes. I came to Miami as one kind of person, and I went back to New Jersey as another. Absolutely. By the time I got back in fifth grade, I was completely different. Maybe it would have happened anyway, I don’t know. But it certainly happened in Miami Beach.
What places from your childhood do you enjoy visiting when you’re back in Miami?
For a long time, I always dragged my husband past the apartment building where we lived, which was, I think, 1330 Pennsylvania Avenue. It’s changed now. I want it to be the same, and it’s not the same. The goldfish pond is gone. That was in the center of the courtyard. Of course, what you remember from when you were young seems so much smaller when you see it again.
You’re finished writing new books. How did you know it was time?
When I was writing In the Unlikely Event—my very best book, I think—I knew that this was going to be the last book. I told my husband, I told everybody, really, this is it. It was a wonderful experience writing that book and a wonderful book tour that followed it. And I knew that that was it. I didn’t want to do it anymore. I didn’t want to be locked up for five years again. But lucky me that just when I made that decision, I got to open a bookstore in Key West.
What has the experience been like working at your bookstore compared with being a writer?
I love going to work at the bookstore. I like being out in the world, and when you’re a writer, you’re really locked up. That served me very well for a long time. Then I reached a certain age when I opened the store, and I didn’t want to be locked up anymore.
What made you want to call Key West home?
I was trying to finish a book, and it was winter in New York, and I love summer. My husband said, “You can have an extra summer every year if you go someplace warm.” So, we just went off on a lark to Key West. We knew one person there. We rented a house for a month. I was working on Summer Sisters, and I really needed to dig in and try to do a revision there. I just describe it as falling in love. You don’t expect it; it just hits you out of the blue. Key West was so exciting then, so vibrant. It was full of writers then. It was warm and friendly and very sociable. That’s the Key West we fell in love with—and, of course, any place is only as good as the people who live there. Even though it’s beautiful and historic and the weather is gorgeous, it wasn’t really that that kept us going back. It was the people.
Your books have been passed between generations. What’s it like meeting adults who tell you your stories helped them understand themselves growing up?
It’s always very sweet, and I always appreciate it. People come to see me at the bookstore, so we keep a box of Kleenex near the register, because there are a lot of tears involved. If you have to be known, it’s the sweetest way, I think, to be known. The sharing of books between generations has been lovely to see. My daughter was the first generation to read as I wrote them, and she is now in her 60s. It’s a very weird thing to think, but that’s true. I’ve been very lucky.
The Miami Book Fair is honoring you this November. What makes the fair special to you?
[Co-founder] Mitchell Kaplan is absolutely the guru of anything to do with books and authors. He is our guru. Our bookstore is affiliated with Mitchell’s store, and he taught us everything that we know about bookselling. It’s always a pleasure to be with Mitchell, and the book fair is an exciting place.
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