Thank you to Mary Ellen Budney, John Monahan, and the entire staff at Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library for helping me navigate the Judy Blume papers. Thank you to the many other librarians and archivists who pitched in along the way, especially Aimee Fernandez-Puente at the Elizabeth Public Library, Maribeth Fisher at the Scotch Plains Public Library, Greg Guderian at the Newark Public Library, Demetrius Watson at School Library Journal, and John Wright at the Fulton County Library.
Thank you to Chris St. John and Rebecca Santiago for taking the time to read an early draft and offering invaluable feedback that made blurry ideas click into focus.
The story of this book is not complete without acknowledging the health challenges that shaped the entire editorial process. I would not have been able to put together a decent sentence, let alone a book proposal, during a global pandemic were it not for my village, the other parents in my childcare pod: Frank Boudreaux, Suzanne Dikker, Megan Gaffney, Matt Kebbekus, Lauren Portada, Sarah Rockower, and Hans Maarten Wikkerink. Thank you to them, and also to our beloved babysitters Rizzo Klotz and Zoe Tanner, who treat our kids like family.
Thank you to all the friends and family who supported me when my own medical crisis hit while I was still writing the book’s first draft. In particular, thank you to Neal Dusedau for a perfectly timed cross-country visit, to Gwen Schantz for being my art-viewing buddy, and to Jess Lattif for the fun and diverting phone conversations. To my parents—Annette Bergstein, Jay Bergstein, Pauline Bergstein, and Jeff Wilson—my sisters—Allison Bergstein and Deanna Smetanka—and my in-laws—Herb Rosenberg and Jean Rosenberg—thank you for loving me in sickness and in health, no matter what I do for a living.
Thank you to Judy Blume, for writing books that truly changed the world.
Thank you to The West coffee shop, for providing such a lively creative hub for the neighborhood and for being an extension of my office.
Thank you to Henry, my furry companion of fifteen years who never fails to warm laps, hearts, and manuscript pages (my son would be very indignant if I left out the cat).
Most of all, thank you to my most cherished guys, Andrew and Curtis, who fill our home with joy, laughter, great conversation, and silly dance moves. You show me every day what life is really about.
About the Author
Rachelle Bergstein is a lifestyle writer, author, and editor, focused on style, pop culture, and families. Her work has appeared in the New York Post, the New York Times, NPR, and more. She is the author of three books: Women from the Ankle Down, Brilliance and Fire, and The Genius of Judy. She lives with her husband and son in Brooklyn. Find out more at RachelleBergstein.com.
www.SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Rachelle-Bergstein
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Notes
For biographical information about Judy Blume, I am most indebted to three books: Judy Blume’s Story by Betsy Lee (New York: Dillon Press, 1981), Presenting Judy Blume by Maryann N. Weidt (New York: Dell Publishing, 1990), and Letters to Judy: What Kids Wish They Could Tell You by Judy Blume (New York: Pocket Books, 1986). I also visited the Judy Blume Papers at Yale University (General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library) twice, first in April 2022 and again in May 2022. In deference to the conditions governing use of this collection, I have not quoted directly from any of the materials that I saw during that time. I spent the afternoon of June 28, 2022, at the Elizabeth Public Library’s main branch in Elizabeth, New Jersey (Blume’s hometown), where I viewed clippings related to her life and career. I’ve consulted hundreds of articles and interviews with Judy Blume, published between 1969 and the present day. Specific citations are below.
Epigraph
“But here she had / no children”: Sharon Olds, “Visiting My Mother’s College,” The Wellspring (New York: Knopf, 1999), p. 3.
“The word police can fuck off”: Vanessa Grigoriadis, “Madonna Talks ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ (‘Not Very Sexy’), the Pope and Why the ‘Word Police Can F— Off,’ ” Billboard.com, February 13, 2015. Accessed online: https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/madonna-interview-rebel-heart-50-shades-of-grey-pope-word-police-6472671/.
Preface
Stephanie is into hunks: Judy Blume, Just as Long as We’re Together (New York: Orchard Books, 1987). I worked from the 2013 reprint from Delacorte Press, p. 1.
“The Judy Blume Renaissance is upon us”: Nicole Sperling, “How Judy Blume Finally Got a ‘Yes’ from Hollywood,” New York Times, March 7, 2023. Accessed online: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/07/business/media/judy-blume-hollywood.html.
“We Need Judy Blume Now More Than Ever”: Cindy White, “We Need Judy Blume Now More Than Ever,” A.V. Club, April 28, 2023. Accessed online: https://www.avclub.com/we-need-judy-blume-now-more-than-ever-1850384851.
according to the American Library Association: From the ALA’s “Top 13 Most Challenged Books of 2022.” Accessed online: https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10.
“The fact is that to women born after 1920”: Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique (New York: Norton, 1963). I worked from the 1983 reprint by Dell Publishing, p. 100.
“When the ballot was won”: Kate Millett, Sexual Politics (New York: Doubleday & Company, 1970), pp. 83–84.
Chapter One
Housewife’s Syndrome
“I went in the closet and I cried”: Quoted from an interview Blume did with CBS Sunday Morning (original airdate May 17, 2015). Accessed on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KAAIschIBc.
John Blume was a promising law student: Lee, Judy Blume’s Story, p. 56.
her single most important ambition as “college”: From the 1956 Battin High School yearbook, accessed at the Elizabeth Public Library’s main branch (1 South Broad Street, Elizabeth, NJ 07202) on June 28, 2022.
Judy framed her college diploma: Mentioned in a 2007 commencement speech Blume gave at her alma mater, New York University. Box 122 of the Judy Blume Papers at Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Accessed May 10, 2022.
“Those women weren’t even shopping”: Weidt, Presenting Judy Blume, p. 13.
“the problem that has no name”: Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique (New York: Norton, 1963), p. 15.
“The American housewife—freed by science and the labor-saving appliances”: Ibid., p. 18.
“I feel as if I don’t exist”: Ibid., p. 20.
