Mary Downing Hahn

Mary Downing Hahn is the author of 19 books for children and young adults. Many of these stories are set in Maryland where Hahn herself grew up and still resides. Her popularity as a writer, however, spreads far beyond our state. Some of her books have been translated into Danish, Swedish, Italian, German, Japanese and French. Mary Downing Hahn's career as a full time author did not begin until 1991. Prior to that she had been employed as an art teacher, artist, store clerk, homemaker and librarian. Hahn is the mother of two grown daughters and is married to Norman Pearce Jacobs. An avid reader at an early age, Hahn remembers spending many hours reading favorite books such as: Lassie Come Home, Call of the Wild, Secret Garden, Anne of Green Gables and Kidnapped. Books played an important part in her life and she began writing and illustrating at an early age. In 7th grade she began keeping a diary. Mary Downing Hahn visited our school on April 15th! Read all about her 1999 visit by clicking here!

	The Sara Summer The Time of the Witch Daphne's Book The Jellyfish Season As Ever Gordy Tallahassee Higgins December Stillness Following the Mystery Man The Doll in the Garden
	The Spanish Kidnapping Disaster Stepping on the Cracks The Wind Blows Backwards Time for Andrew Look for Me by Moonlight The Gentleman Outlaw and Me Following My Own Footsteps Wait Till Helen Comes

A MESSAGE FROM Mary Downing Hahn

Dear Students,
I'm honored to be the "Author of the Month" at East Middle School -- right here in Maryland, my home state.

Since some of you are in the 8th grade, I thought you might enjoy reading a few excerpts from the diary I kept when I was your age. The first entries deal with reading -- and the trouble it caused me all through school.

Monday, Jan. 21, 1952
Dear Diary,
Today in music Carrie and I got a real bawling out for reading. I was reading The Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. Mrs. H took our books away and we had to stay after school till 4:00. We won't do that again! She didn't even give our books back.

Wednesday, Jan. 23, 1952
Dear Diary,
In music Mrs. H didn't say anything about reading. Afterwards Carrie asked if we could have our books back. She couldn't get the drawer open they were in.

Thursday, Jan. 24, 1952
Dear Diary,
We got our books back today. Mr. S held them up in the morning and said we could get them after school. Instead he gave them back 4th period. He was half grinning when he handed mine to me. I kept my face straight though. We practiced basketball in gym today.

Friday, Feb. 29, 1952
Dear Diary,
I could've laughed today in music. Ever since Carrie and I had our books taken away Jimmy L. has just read anyway. Today Mrs. H got up and walked to Jimmy's desk. She took the book and said, "I'd like to throw this out the window! Get up!" He did and she made him sit where she could watch him. It sure served old Jimmy right. She didn't keep him after school, though.

Jimmy appears frequently in my diary. I think we must have liked each other but spent a great deal of time competing, as this entry shows:

Wednesday, Mar. 12, 1952
Dear Diary,
Today we had blackboard drills. Jimmy finished before me when I had to race him. He said to me 'cause I was hurrying, "Nervous?" Well, he forgot to add a zero and I added it and mine was right and his was wrong.
I was very proud of myself on this occasion because math was my worst subject. I rarely came out well in blackboard drills.

You might also like to know how I became famous in the eighth grade. Like most Americans at that time, I was terrified the Russians would start World War Three and drop atomic bombs on Washington, DC. We had special drills in school, families built bomb shelters in their yards and stockpiled canned food and water. A show called "Alert America" toured the country, demonstrating with displays what might happen to us if atomic bombs dropped on major cities. I dragged our family to the show, hoping to convince my father we needed a bomb shelter. While there, I talked him into buying us all identification tags like soldiers wear. With these dangling around our necks, we could be identified in case of a nuclear emergency.

The unexpected result of this purchase was our family's appearance in both The Washington Evening Star and The Washington Post newspapers. Here's how I reported the event in my diary:

Wednesday, Feb. 6, 1952
Dear Diary,
At the Alert America Show we got some identification tags. We ordered them and they came today. They were on a string made of gimp, a plastic coated string. Daddy wanted to see if it would burn. You should have seen it! Whew! It blazed up in a huge flame and shot out sparks. Daddy dumped it in an ash tray and had the dickens of a time putting it out. Mother wrote a letter to the Evening Star and the Civil Defense Department complaining. They will probably not pay any attention.

Friday, Feb. 8, 1952
Dear Diary,
Guess what? A Star photographer came today and took pictures of us and the flaming cords! It will go in the paper tomorrow! Wow! Our picture in the paper! Imagine that. Everyone is pretty excited.

Saturday, Feb. 9, 1952
Dear Diary,
We were in the paper, okay, and a real long article underneath. The material will be changed. No more gimp! And all because of us. A Washington Post photographer came and took a picture of Daddy, Connie, and Mother. I was in bed with a sinus infection. Jack didn't think he was going to take pictures so he didn't come in. Daddy wasn't in the Star picture 'cause he wasn't home from work.

Sunday, Feb. 10, 1952
Dear Diary,
Our picture was in the Sunday Washington Post today. Daddy looks like an English movie star instead of a mechanic. He kept looking at the picture and saying, "Ha, ha, so that's me." Mother is saving both clippings.

The only bad part for me was a quote from the Evening Star saying, "Mary Downing, 14, got them to go. She is atom-bomb minded." You can imagine the teasing I received at school! I suppose that's when I learned fame has it's dark side.

Enjoy your books but don't read them in music class!
Best Wishes,
Mary Downing Hahn
A young Mary Downing Hahn