BIFF, the boulder international film festival, just took place here in town and my girlfriend arranged for a group of us to see the documentary, “judy blume forever,” about one of the most pivotal authors of my childhood (YOURS too if you grew up in the late seventies and eighties.) it was INCREDIBLE on so many levels. i realized that even though i read her books over and over (just certain parts of some!) i had never registered what she looked like. she resembled “sabrina” from charlie’s angels when she first started writing in 1979 and she is still a gorgeous woman now at 83. (she currently lives in key west, rides her bike all over and runs a bookstore. i am determined to go visit her shop.)

(judy reading from “are you there god? it’s me, margaret” in the documentary… her bright blue readers are the BEST!)

(LOOK at chic, sexy, 70’s judy… i just LOVE her, even if she is possibly a cat person!)

(doesn’t kate jackson look A LOT like judy?)

i also don’t think i was aware of how revolutionary her writing was then and now. she addressed topics that no one else would touch: puberty, bullying, divorce, sex, masturbation, race relations, self-image, death… i just knew that her stories gave me insight into situations that weren’t being openly discussed and prompted helpful conversations with both my friends and my mother. i certainly didn’t know how hard she had to fight to keep her books in circulation as various groups repeatedly tried to ban them from schools and libraries. in the film they showed her speaking on numerous talk shows and at hearings defending her topics and pleading the importance of children having access to the information she shared so artfully in her novels.

i DO remember passing around “forever” at the round tables in the library at franklin elementary school with friends. the book would fall naturally open on the “ralph” pages and we would erupt in peals of laughter. i also remember feeling so relieved that “margaret” was facing many of the same concerns that i was… especially how desperate she was to “increase her bust.” i never really got mine (except for the few months when i was nursing and then they were always lopsided depending on which side had been eaten.) i also remember getting my hands on my mother’s copy of “wifey,” blume’s adult novel. i was reading it on the way back from a road trip and remained curled up in the back of my mother’s gold hatchback honda, parked in front of our house for several hours after we arrived because i couldn’t put it down. i finally emerged from the car all sweaty and bothered from the book and the strong afternoon sun.

(here i am in my polaroid childhood wearing my franklin school tee about the time that i was deep into judy blume!)

(i thought this locket cover was SO glamorous!)

(this book got everyone all stirred up!)

i don’t know what happened to all of my judy blume books … i can only find the “fudges” so as soon as i got home from the documentary i ordered the whole set for lucy (and ME… i can’t wait to reread them!)

one section of the film showed judy reading letters from her bazillion fans. there are people who have been exchanging letters with judy for over THIRTY YEARS! lots of these initial letters were heart wrenching and super painful from boys and girls who felt like they didn’t have anyone else to reach out to. and judy WROTE BACK! she even attended the graduation of one lucky fan. i am just so HAPPY to know that judy is still in this bananas world and that if things get really rough i can write her a letter too.

* my box set of judy blumes arrived and i have been on a bender… i started with “margaret” (of course!) moved onto “blubber,” then “deenie” and now i am in the middle of “then again, maybe i won’t.” rereading these books has been so eye opening - not only does she nail the kids and what they are going through, but she writes the PARENTS so well. they are flawed and selfish and loving and confusing just like we are. it makes me feel better (i am certainly not alone in my imperfect parenting) but also worse because it’s so easy for me to recognize where judy’s parents are misstepping, yet i keep instigating disasters myself. thank goodness we have judy as a launching pad for conversations with our kids… a tool i didn’t even realize i was missing until i went to the documentary.

to read more about my 70’s childhood click here or here or here