Other Voices

Inga Boudreau grew up on a farm in Westerlo, the daughter of German artisans. Her mother, a sculptress, could recreate a Chanel outfit by looking at a picture and she told stories that came from the heart. Her father heeded Will Rogers’ words — “Buy land; they’re not making it anymore — and in 1932, sight unseen, bought a 200-acre farm in Westerlo for about $300. Inga and her sister attended the grade school in Westerlo and then went on to graduate from Berne-Knox High School. Boudreau fondly remembers two of her English teachers: in eighth grade, John O’Leary taught her respect for the English language; in high school, Nancy Hayden told her, “Never stop writing because you gave me chills.” Boudreau never did stop. With master’s degrees from New York University and Columbia, she launched a career in children’s book publishing. In this week’s podcast, she talks about some of the authors she worked with whom she grew to know and love: Maurice Sendak, E.B. White, Madeleine L’Engle, and Tomie dePaola. She describes her author friends as kind, egalitarian, and nonjudgmental and treasures their cards and letters. She has always liked the ending of E.B. White’s “Charlotte’s Web.” Wilbur, the pig rescued at the start of the book by 8-year-old Fern, is missing his friend, the spider Charlotte, and he thinks, “It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both.”