Walter Dean Myers (1937-2014) was an American writer of children's books best known for young adult literature. He wrote more than 100 books including picture books and nonfiction. He won the Coretta Scott King Award for African-American authors five times. His 1988 novel Fallen Angels is one of the books most frequently challenged in the U.S. because of its adult language and its realistic depiction of the Vietnam War. Myers was the third U.S. National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, serving in 2012 and 2013. He also sat on the Board of Advisors of the Society of Children's Book Writer's and Illustrators (SCBWI). Myers received the Margaret Edwards Award from the American Library Association in 1994 for his contribution in writing for teens. That award recognizes one writer and a particular body of work for "significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature." For his lifetime contribution as a children's writer he was U.S. nominee for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2010.
Portrait by Ellen Foscue Johnson
