Judith Viorst
Judith Viorst (née Stahl, February 2, 1931) is an American writer, newspaper journalist, and psychoanalysis researcher. She is known for her humorous observational poetry and for her children's literature. This includes "The Tenth Good Thing About Barney" (about the death of a pet) and the "Alexander" series of short picture books, which includes "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" (1972), which has sold over two million copies. Viorst is a 1952 graduate of the Newark College of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey. In 1968, Viorst signed the "Writers  and Editors War Tax Protest" pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War. In the latter part of the 1970s, after two decades of writing for children and adults, she turned to the study of Freudian psychology. In 1981, she became a research graduate at Washington Psychoanalytic Institute after six years of study. Personal life. A native of Newark, New Jersey, Viorst was raised in Maplewood, New Jersey, and attended Columbia High School. A graduate of the class of 1948, Viorst was inducted into the school's hall of fame in 1990. She currently lives in  Washington, D.C., with her husband, political writer Milton Viorst. They have three grown sons: Anthony Jacob Viorst, an attorney practicing in the Denver, Colorado, area; Nicholas Nathan "Nick" Viorst, an Assistant District Attorney for New York County, and Alexander Noah Viorst, who finances affordable apartment properties around the country. She received the 2011 Foremother Award for Lifetime Achievement from the National Research Center for Women & Families. Writing. Writing for children. Among Viorst's books for children is the "Alexander" series (including "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day"), whose narrator is a 5-year-old boy who  lives with his parents and two brothers, Anthony and Nick, who are named for Viorst's own three sons. Viorst's book "Sad Underwear" is a collection of poems that examines a wide variety of feelings and experiences from a child's point of view. Writing for adults. Viorst's books for adults include nonfiction psychology books such as "Grown-up Marriage", "Imperfect Control," and "Necessary Losses". She has written nine books of poetry including "Unexpectedly Eighty and Other Adaptations", "When Did I Stop Being Twenty and Other Injustices: Selected Poems from Single to Mid-Life" and "People and other  Aggravations". Viorst is also a newspaper columnist and has written frequently for "The New York Times" and "The Washington Post," and has been a contributing editor to "Redbook" magazine. She also penned the musical "Love & Shrimp" with Shelly Markam. The Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati hosted a performance of "Love & Shrimp", starring Deb Girdler, Pamela Myers and Shelley Bamberger, in the spring of 1999.