Browse Items (61 total)

Robert Cormier's letter to Karen 9 April 1996.jpeg
This one-page letter from Cormier accompanied his revised Tenderness draft. He addresses the character shifts he made with Lori and Eric and expresses his gratitude for her comments and his contentment with the revised version of the novel.

Tenderness draft with editor's comments C17 folder 3.jpeg
Twenty pages of typescript of Tenderness show extensive commenting and editorial markings. Pages are numbered in pencil but not all pages are consecutive. Editorial comments, presumably from Karen Wojtyla, discuss issues of continuity, suspense,…

Tenderness draft strays C17 folder 1 page 1.jpeg
These six-page non-consecutive typed draft of Tenderness sections shows both handwritten and typed revisions with XXXX over previously typed words. One page includes notes to himself about reframing Lori's parent's situations. The other pages are of…

Debra Bunn 6 March 1999.jpeg
In this short half-page letter, Cormier thanks Debra for choosing Tenderness as her senior thesis. He reveals that one inspiration for this character Lori came from a girl he knew whose life he pitied. He was also interested in the humanity of serial…

Trenton Keim 5 May 2000.jpeg
In this letter, presumably responding to a student, Robert Cormier shares his sources of inspiration for Tenderness that came from the news and his adolescence. He shares that Wickburg is a fictionalized version of Worcester, MA and encourages the…

Ashley Hardiman 14 April 1998.jpeg
In this brief letter, Cormier points to Tenderness as a reflection of rampant violence in the real world and expresses hope that even monsters like Eric Poole can be saved.

Mike Gubbins 6 March 1999.jpeg
In this letter to a student, Robert Cormier describes how his own emotions fuel his writing and how he must be emotionally invested in his characters. He also discusses World War II and his fictional town of Monument.

Dana 15 March 1989 E1.1 folder 17.jpg
In this letter to Dana, presumably a young reader, Cormier writes about finding inspiration for his novels in the lives of his children. He also speaks to the timeless nature of emotions, especially those of adolescence.

Julie 2 January 1996 E1.1 folder 17.jpg
Cormier writes to Julie in response to her four interview questions for a class project. It appears he enjoyed a friendship with her teacher, Ms. Hawks. Cormier discusses his childhood during the depression, his interests, and his motives for…

Toybreakers stray draft pages001.jpg
Ten stray pages of Toybreakers draft material show Cormier's handwritten edits. The content includes one sexually explicit conversation between Mr. Caller and Susan, a scene of Harriette home alone contemplating torturing Mr. Caller, Mr. Caller…

Toybreakers outline001.jpg
This single page, typed, and marked outline of Toybreakers shows Cormier's customary global overview of a work in progress. This artifact shows Part 1, the only section of the book that exists in the archive. Cormier's handwritten notes indicate that…

6_Dear Dad001.jpg
This magazine article tells the story of several fathers whose daughters have left home for college. Interviews with sets of fathers and daughters echo themes of tension between fathers and daughters particularly regarding emotional intimacy and…

5_Not Banned in Boston001.jpg
In this magazine feature for The Sign, a Catholic periodical, Cormier praises the efforts of priest Monsignor Russell Novello to bolster sex education in the Boston archdiocese. The sex education program he has developed with regional gynecologists…

3_John Fitch IV The SOS Signals Not Always Noticed.jpg
Robert Cormier's adopted persona, John Fitch IV, articulates in this bi-weekly column, how closely related specific positive or neutral qualities are to those that are destructive. He claims that we misunderstand distress signals that reveal…

2_John Fitch IV The Days of Sweet Innocence.jpg
In this bi-weekly column written under the name "John Fitch IV", Cormier blends verse and prose to poke fun at our naïve innocence of the world as viewed through the lens of movie clichés. Amongst the roughly three dozen clichés are some on female…
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