Bulla, Clyde R. 1914-2007 (Clyde Robert Bulla)

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born January 9, 1914, near King City, MO; died May 23, 2007, in Warrensburg, MO. Author. Bulla was an award-winning author of children's books. Growing up on a farm, he attended a one-room school but later dropped out in order to help his family at home. He continued schooling through correspondence courses to earn his high school diploma and also began writing. Working on stories late at night, he managed to sell some of them to magazines for extra income to support his family. His first book, These Bright Young Dreams, was published in 1941. A novel for adults, the work earned him no money because his publisher went out of business. From 1942 until 1947, Bulla worked as a columnist and linotype operator at the Tri-County News in King City. A friend suggested he try his hand at a children's book, and so Bulla penned the nonfiction The Donkey Cart (1946). Over sixty books would follow, many of them drawing on American history, such as Squanto, Friend of the White Men (1954), Lincoln's Birthday (1966), and Charlie's House (1983). He also wrote modern tales, such as The Chalk Box Kid (1987) and instructional works, such as A Tree Is a Plant (1960; revised edition, 2000). During the 1950s, he collaborated with Lois Lenski to write a series of song books; Bulla composed the music and Lenski wrote lyrics. Among his many honors, the author won outstanding juvenile book by a Southern California author from the Authors Club of Los Angeles in 1961 for Benito, a 1971 Christopher Award for Pocahontas and the Strangers, and, all for Shoeshine Girl, the Southern California Council on Children's Literature award for distinguished contribution, the Sequoyah Children's Book Award, and the South Carolina Children's Book Award.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

BOOKS

Bull, Clyde R., A Grain of Wheat: The Story Begins, Godine (Boston, MA), 1985.

PERIODICALS

Los Angeles Times, May 27, 2007, p. B12.

Washington Post, May 29, 2007, p. B6.