Editing Lloyd Alexander (section)

==Writing career==
For about fifteen years in Philadelphia, Alexander wrote primarily fiction, non-fiction, and translations for adults. Desperate for a job, he worked as a potter's apprentice for his sister. At the end of 1948, he started writing advertising copy, and he began to receive more royalties for his translations, leading him to purchase a house for his family in Kellytown. However, he lost his job after three months, requiring his wife to take up employment in a textile mill to make ends meet. Alexander continued to write diligently, though no publishers bought his novels for seven years.{{sfn|Jacobs|Tunnell|1991|pp=14–15}}

One of his short stories, "The Fantastic Symphony" (1949), published in the ''New Directions Annual'', was a surrealistic piece inspired by Berlioz's notes on the ''[[Symphonie fantastique]]''.{{sfn|May|1991|p=9}} Alexander's breakthrough came with his novel ''And Let the Credit Go'' (1955), his first autobiographical work in which he focused on his experience as a bank messenger in his adolescence.{{sfn|Jacobs|Tunnell|1991|p=16}} He wrote his second novel, ''My Five Tigers'' (1956), about his cats, continuing the trend of writing about subjects familiar to him.{{sfn|Jacobs|Tunnell|1991|p=18}} He found work as a copyeditor and a cartoonist where he finished his last four adult publications. He wrote two semi-autobiographical novels: ''Janine is French'' (1959) and ''My Love Affair with Music'' (1960). Alexander co-authored ''Park Avenue Vet'' (1960) with [[Louis J. Camuti|Louis Camuti]], who specialized in treating cats. The [[American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals]] subsequently commissioned their history, which Alexander wrote as ''Fifty Years in the Doghouse'' (1964).{{Sfn|Jacobs|Tunnell|1991|p=18}} During that time he wrote two non-fiction books for children, biographies for [[August Bondi]] and [[Aaron Lopez]] commissioned by the Jewish Publication Society, the former of which won the National Jewish Book Award in 1959.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Sleeman |editor1-first=Elizabeth |title=International Who's Who: Authors and Writers |date=2003 |publisher=Europa Publications |location=London |isbn=1857431790 |page=11 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=phhhHT64kIMC&pg=PA11 |access-date=4 March 2020}}</ref><ref name="latimes">{{cite news |last1=Rourke |first1=Mary |title=Lloyd Alexander, 83; children's author wrote 'Prydain Chronicles' |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-may-19-me-alexander19-story.html |access-date=4 March 2020 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=May 19, 2007}}</ref>{{sfn|Jacobs|Tunnell|1991|p=19}} Alexander's subsequent novel was his first of the fantasy genre: ''[[Time Cat]]'' (1963). He later called it "the most creative and liberating experience of my life".<ref name=about1999>{{cite book |last1=Alexander |first1=Lloyd |title=The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain |date=1999 |publisher=Henry Hold and Company |location=New York |isbn=0805061304 |page=97}}</ref> The novel imagines a cat who can visit its other lives in different time periods, which Alexander researched extensively.{{sfn|Jacobs|Tunnell|1991|p=20}} ''Fifty Years in the Doghouse'' (1964; reprinted as ''Send for Ryan'') told stories of how William Michael Ryan saved animals as part of his job as a special agent for the ASPCA.{{sfn|Ingram|1986|p=7}}

Almost forty years old, he then specialized in children's fantasy, the genre of his best-known works. His wartime tenure in Wales introduced him to castles and scenery that would inspire settings for many of his books.<ref name=about1999/> Alexander was particularly fascinated with [[Welsh mythology]], especially the ''[[Mabinogion]]''. The plot for ''The Book of Three'' is based on a fragment from the [[The Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales|''Myvyrian Archaiology'']]. Alexander signed a book deal with Henry Holt and Company for a trilogy called ''The Sons of Llyr''.{{sfn|Jacobs|Tunnell|1991|pp=22-23}}<ref name=wpost/> Alexander resisted simplifying the Welsh names, stating that they gave the book a certain mood and strangeness.{{sfn|Jacobs|Tunnell|1991|p=24}} After the release of the first novel, ''The Book of Three'' (1964), the series became known as ''The Chronicles of Prydain''. The second book of the series, ''The Black Cauldron'', followed in 1965.{{sfn|Jacobs|Tunnell|1991|p=25}} After beginning the third book, ''The Castle of Llyr'' (1966), Alexander decided his story needed to be told in four books, not three, and he planned his fourth and final novel, ''The High King of Prydain''. During this time he also worked at the ''Delaware Valley Announcer'' as an associate editor.{{sfn|Jacobs|Tunnell|1991|p=25}} After having a near-death experience, Alexander hastily finished ''The High King'', concerned he would be unable to finish his saga. However, his editor, Ann Durell, suggested that he write a fourth book in between ''The Castle of Llyr'' and ''The High King'' (1968); this book became ''Taran Wanderer'' (1967).{{sfn|Jacobs|Tunnell|1991|pp=26-27}} The five novels detail the adventures of a young man named [[Taran (character)|Taran]], who dreams of being a sword-bearing hero but has only the title of Assistant Pig-Keeper. He progresses from youth to maturity and must finally choose whether to be High King of Prydain. Alexander also wrote two spin-off children's books from the Prydain series, ''Coll and His White Pig'' (1965) and ''The Truthful Harp'' (1967).{{sfn|Jacobs|Tunnell|1991|p=27}} Alexander won the Newbery Medal for ''The High King'' in 1969.{{sfn|Jacobs|Tunnell|1991|p=27}} 

Alexander's novel ''The Marvelous Misadventures of Sebastian'' (1970) was rejected after its first submission, and he rewrote it three times before it was published.{{sfn|Jacobs|Tunnell|1991|pp=29-30}} It won the National Book Award in 1971.{{sfn|Jacobs|Tunnell|1991|p=30}} He published two picture books: ''The King's Fountain'' (1971), for which he collaborated with the author [[Ezra Jack Keats]], and ''The Four Donkeys'' (1972). He wrote the novel ''The Cat Who Wished to be a Man'' in 1973.{{sfn|Jacobs|Tunnell|1991|p=30}} The same year Alexander published ''The Foundling: And Other Tales of Prydain'', a companion book to the Prydain series.{{sfn|Jacobs|Tunnell|1991|p=30}} After the success of ''Prydain'', Alexander was author-in-residence at [[Temple University]] from 1970 to 1974.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Sleeman |editor-first=Elizabeth |title=International who's who of authors and writers 2004 |year=2003 |publisher=Europa Publications, Taylor & Francis Group |location=London |isbn=1-85743-179-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=phhhHT64kIMC&q=lloyd+alexander+author-in-residence+temple+university&pg=PA11 |edition=19th |access-date=2011-12-29 |page=11}}</ref> He once described it as being educational for him and "rather like being a visiting uncle, who has a marvelous time with his nephews and nieces, then goes off leaving the parents to cope with attacks of whooping cough, mending socks and blackmailing the kids to straighten up the mess in their rooms."<ref name="IRA71">{{cite book |editor=Painter, Helen W. |title=Reaching Children and Young People Through Literature|year=1971|publisher=[[International Reading Association]] |location=Newark, DE |url=http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED068915.pdf |access-date=2011-12-29 |page=26 }}</ref> Alexander wrote ''The Wizard in the Tree'' while suffering from depression and published it in 1975. The character Arbican was based on Alexander and his personal struggles.{{sfn|Jacobs|Tunnell|1991|p=31}} In 1977 he published ''The Town Cats'', which received a more favorable critical reception than ''The Wizard in the Tree''.{{sfn|Jacobs|Tunnell|1991|p=31}} His next book, ''The First Two Lives of Lukas-Kasha'', set in a fantasy world based on 15th century Persia, was published in 1978.{{sfn|Jacobs|Tunnell|1991|p=32}} It won the Silver Slate Pencil Award in Holland and the Austrian Book Award in Austria.{{sfn|Jacobs|Tunnell|1991|p=32}}

Alexander's other fiction series are ''[[Westmark (novel)|Westmark]]'' (1981 to 1984) and ''[[Vesper Holly]]'' (1987 to 1990 and 2005). ''Westmark'' features a former printer's apprentice involved in the rebellion and civil war in a fictional European kingdom around 1800. Vesper Holly is a wealthy and brilliant Philadelphia [[orphan]] who has adventures in various fictional countries during the 1870s.{{efn|
Holly visits five fictional countries and her last adventure is set in and around Philadelphia during the 1876 [[Centennial Exhibition]].}} There was some controversy about ''The Fortune-Tellers'' (1992), a picture book illustrated by [[Trina Schart Hyman]]. Some felt that the story was European in origin and therefore inappropriate for its African setting.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lasky |first=Kathryn |editor= Dana L. Fox and Kathy G. Short |title=Stories Matter: The Complexity of Cultural Authenticity in Children's Literature |year= 2003 |publisher=[[National Council of Teachers of English]] |isbn=0-8141-4744-5 |pages=86–87}}</ref> Alexander's last novel, ''The Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio'', was published in August 2007.<ref name="newyorktimes">{{cite news |last1=Fox |first1=Margalit |title=Lloyd Alexander, Author of Fantasy Novels, Is Dead at 83 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/19/arts/19alexander.html |access-date=6 March 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=May 19, 2007}}</ref> 

Alexander helped create the children's literary magazine ''[[Cricket (magazine)|Cricket]]'' and served on its editorial board.<ref name=writeaway>{{cite news | url=http://www.writeaway.org.uk/content/view/184/2/ | title=Lloyd Alexander 1924–2007 |last=Gamble |first=Nikki |publisher=Write Away| date=May 24, 2007 |access-date=2008-09-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121180100/http://www.writeaway.org.uk/content/view/184/2/ |archive-date=2008-11-21 }}</ref>{{sfn|Ingram|1986|p=21}} He served on the library committee of ''World Book Encyclopedia'' in 1974 and in the board of directors in the Friends of the International Board on Books for Young People in 1982.{{sfn|Ingram|1986|p=19}} Alexander maintained a rigorous working schedule, awakening at 4 a.m. and working until the late afternoon, afterwards enjoying his sole meal with his wife. He adhered to this routine even when he did not feel inspired, stating that he could not rely on inspiration alone.{{sfn|May|1991|p=12}} He corresponded with fans, who on occasion visited him in his home.{{sfn|May|1991|pp=10; 143}}

Alexander died on May 17, 2007, of cancer,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/19/arts/19alexander.html |title=Lloyd Alexander, Author of Fantasy Novels, Is Dead at 83|first=Margalit|last=Fox|newspaper=The New York Times |date=May 19, 2007|access-date=Dec 30, 2019}}</ref> a few weeks after the death of his wife of sixty-one years.<ref name="latimes" /> His stepdaughter, Madeleine Khalil, had predeceased both him and her mother in 1995. He was survived by his five step-grandchildren and five step-great-grandchildren. He is buried at [[Arlington Cemetery (Pennsylvania)|Arlington Cemetery]] in Drexel Hill.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lloyd Alexander |url=http://www.arlingtoncemetery.us/tribute.asp?Id=244346 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110901191744/http://www.arlingtoncemetery.us/tribute.asp?Id=244346 |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 September 2011 |publisher=Arlington Cemetery |access-date=6 March 2020}}</ref>