Richard and Florence Atwater

Richard Atwater ( born December 29, 1892 in Chicago, † August 21, 1948 ) was an American journalist, university lecturer and children's book author.

Life

Richard Atwater studied, lived and worked in Chicago. In 1921 he married Florence Hasseltine Carroll, with whom he had two daughters. Atwater taught for a while Greek at the University and wrote, among other things, for the Chicago Evening Post, the Chicago Daily News, the Chicago Tribune and the Herald - Examiner and for the magazine The Chicagoan, which dealt with themes of art and literature. He used the pseudonym " Riq " For his columns.

His book Rickety Rhymes of Riq appeared in 1925, came out in 1931 Doris and the Trolls. He also wrote a children's opera called The King's Sneezes. Another book was titled The Secret History of Procopius.

1932 Atwater saw a documentary about the Antarctic Expedition Richard E. Byrd's what inspired him to write a text, which later became the children's book Mr. Popper's Penguins was. The manuscript entitled orc! was rejected by two publishers. After Richard Atwater had suffered a stroke in 1934, he could no longer write and the book, which was published under the title of Mr. Popper's Penguins in the German language, was rebuilt and completed written by his wife Florence itself. She created the story of a group of penguins realistic than her husband had done it. The book was illustrated by Robert Lawson. It was published in 1938, remained a bestseller for decades of children's literature and has received numerous awards, including the Newbery Honor