June Rae Wood

June Rae Wood
Born	1946 Versailles, Missouri, United States
Occupation	Novelist
Genre	Realistic Fiction
Notable works	The Man Who Loved Clowns, Turtle on a Fence Post, When Pigs Fly, About Face, On Her Way: Stories and Poems About Growing Up Girl, and A Share of Freedom.

June Rae Wood is an American author. One of her books, The Man Who Loved Clowns, won the Mark Twain Award and William Allen White Award in 1995.

Early life

June Rae Wood grew up in Versailles, Missouri, with 7 siblings: 4 brothers and 3 sisters. Her brother, Richard, who had Down syndrome, was her model for The Man Who Loved Clowns. June's other brothers and sisters had to protect Richard from other people who would be mean to him. Many people would laugh and stare, but Richard thought this was a compliment.

Richard

Her brother loved Elvis Presley so much, just like the character Punky in The Man Who Loved Clowns. Richard had a brown cowboy hat which he loved so much. The only things he would watch on television were commercials and cartoons. He would often take the paper off of crayons, break them into two and roll them across the table but he never used the tips. Later in his life, he went to work at a sheltered workshop. He had a great time and made actual friends until he was 35 years old. Richard died at age 36 after years of love and caring family members. Richard also loved fried chicken and when he ate it he took the bone and threw it behind the TV.

References

• "Turtle On A Fence Post. (Fiction Reprints).(book)(Review)(Children's Review)(Brief Review)". Publishers Weekly. 3 Dec 2001. Retrieved 2008-08-25.*
• June Rae Wood 1: http://mowrites4kids.drury.edu/authors/wood/
• Penguin biography

External links

• June Rae Wood at Library of Congress, with 7 library catalog records