Mike Gubbins's letter to Robert Cormier 18 February 1998
In this 2-page letter to Cormier, Mike, a student in Knoxville Tennessee, asks about Cormier's writing process and education, along with specific questions about <em>Heroes</em> and <em>I Am the Cheese</em>. Mike is especially interested in Cormier's inspirations and potential connection between his personal experiences and his writing.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Mike+Gubbins">Mike Gubbins</a>
Robert E. Cormier Collection at Fitchburg State University's Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
18 February 1998
AnnaMary L. Consalvo
Katharine Covino
Elise Takehana
<a href="https://robertcormiertwistedintimacy.omeka.net/items/show/12" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span>Robert Cormier's letter to Mike Gubbins 6 March 1999</span></a>
JPG, 8.5x11
English
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Letter">Letter</a>
Lara Langweiler's letter to Robert Cormier 13 December 1999
In this 2-page letter to Cormier, middle-school student Lara praises Cormier's realistic and socially-relevant novels, and among other things thanks him for making her "less self-centered". She mentions the potential for all people to be bad people, especially when provoked by fear. She recognizes the value of respect and the realism of his work, comparing his topics to those typically found in the news.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Lara+Langweiler">Lara Langweiler</a>
Robert E. Cormier Collection at Fitchburg State University's Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
13 December 1999
AnnaMary L. Consalvo
Katharine Covino
Elise Takehana
JPG, 8.5x11
English
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Letter">Letter</a>
Stray scratch paper
A single page of typewritten notes is overwritten with pencil notes that show time duration and what appear to be flight numbers and times. Cormier bemoans the immorality of our times and specifically mentions abortion.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Robert+Cormier">Robert Cormier</a>
Robert E. Cormier Collection at Fitchburg State University's Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
Annamary L. Consalvo
Katharine Covino
Elise Takehana
JPG, 8.5x11
English
Robert Cormier's letter to Catherine July 1994
In this two-page typed draft of a letter to a family friend, Catherine, Cormier conveys sympathy to her and her family over the loss of her father. With at least a dozen pen edits, this copy clearly shows revisions. In it, he encourages her to explore fiction writing and shares that his own father's death was devasting to him. He also says writing about his father's death started as personal and therapeutic yet became a book. He encourages her to consider turning her experiences into some sort of literary effort.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Robert+Cormier">Robert Cormier</a>
Robert E. Cormier Collection at Fitchburg State University's Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
July 1994
AnnaMary L. Consalvo
Katharine Covino
Elise Takehana
JPG, 8.5x11
English
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Letter">Letter</a>
Robert Cormier's email to Fiona, Gudrun, Lucy, and Paul 3 February 1999
Cormier writes to a group of students in Newcastle, U.K., promising to answer their questions in a forthcoming email. Cormier recounts his brief visit to Newcastle and praises Waterstones Books' "In Brief" program.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Robert+Cormier">Robert Cormier</a>
Robert E. Cormier Collection at Fitchburg State University's Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
3 February 1999
AnnaMary L. Consalvo
Katharine Covino
Elise Takehana
<a href="https://robertcormiertwistedintimacy.omeka.net/items/show/98" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Robert Cormier's email to Paul Swaddle 12 February 1999</a><br /><a href="https://robertcormiertwistedintimacy.omeka.net/items/show/97" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Paul Swaddle's email to Robert Cormier 11 February 1999</a><br /><a href="https://robertcormiertwistedintimacy.omeka.net/items/show/96" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Robert Cormier's email to Fiona, Gudrun, Lucy, and Paul 4 February 1999</a><br /><a href="https://robertcormiertwistedintimacy.omeka.net/items/show/95" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Paul Swaddle's email to Robert Cormier 3 February 1999</a>
JPG, 8.5x11
English
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Email">Email</a>
"Marilyn Marlow Remembered" <em>Publishers Weekly</em> 13 October 2003
This "in memoriam" for literary agent Marilyn Marlow features a brief account from Cormier's widow Connie. She describes her husband's close relationship with Miss Marlow, and how Marlow defended Cormier when publishers wanted to make changes to <em>The Chocolate War</em>. Further, Marlow was Cormier's only agent and a family friend. S.E. Hinton, Susan Hirschman, Thacher Hurd, Craig Virden, and Dave Barbor also included their laudatory thoughts and shared positive experiences with Marlow.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=S.E.+Hinton">S.E. Hinton</a>
Robert E. Cormier Collection at Fitchburg State University's Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
13 October 2003
AnnaMary L. Consalvo
Katharine Covino
Elise Takehana
JPG, 8.5x11
English
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Magazine+article">Magazine article</a>
Robert Cormier's letter to Miss Marilyn Marlow 4 October 1960
In this four-page letter (page 2 missing) to agent Marilyn Marlow, Cormier discusses at length his difficulties writing a new novel, as well as publication challenges for his finished novel <em>The Rumple Country</em>. He solicits her advice on a short story "The Three Hundred Loan" and shares an encouraging conversation he had with a Random House salesman who showed interested in Cormier's plots for <em>The Rumple Country</em> and an unnamed novel about seduction. He also inquires upon the potentially improved conditions at Macmillan. He also laments that free-lancing has not offered him more time to write what pleases him.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Robert+Cormier">Robert Cormier</a>
Robert E. Cormier Collection at Fitchburg State University's Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
4 October 1960
AnnaMary L. Consalvo
Katharine Covino
Elise Takehana
<a href="https://robertcormiertwistedintimacy.omeka.net/items/show/138" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Robert Cormier's letter to Miss Marilyn Marlow undated</a><br /><a href="https://robertcormiertwistedintimacy.omeka.net/items/show/120" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">"My Father's Gamble" The Sign</a><br /><a href="https://robertcormiertwistedintimacy.omeka.net/items/show/42" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Robert Cormier's letter to Miss Marilyn Marlow 29 March 1968</a>
JPG, 8.5x11 onion skin
English
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Letter">Letter</a>
Robert Cormier's letter to Miss Marilyn Marlow 29 March 1968
This is a two-page typed letter to Marilyn Marlow of Curtis Brown Ltd. Literary agency. Cormier discusses his difficulty in settling on an idea for his new novel. One novel on a woman looking to be a nun reads dated to him and another is overtly sexual and repellent, so it also does not feel like a match. He also shares his experiences as a part-time "free-lancer" and returning part-time at the <em>Fitchburg</em> <em>Sentinel </em>as a means to support his family while trying to carve out time for novel writing. He invites Marilyn to visit him since he is unable to come to New York with the new baby.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Robert+Cormier">Robert Cormier</a>
Robert E. Cormier Collection at Fitchburg State University's Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
29 March 1968
AnnaMary L. Consalvo
Katharine Covino
Elise Takehana
<a href="https://robertcormiertwistedintimacy.omeka.net/items/show/138" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Robert Cormier's letter to Miss Marilyn Marlow undated</a><br /><a href="https://robertcormiertwistedintimacy.omeka.net/items/show/120" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">"My Father's Gamble" The Sign</a><br /><a href="https://robertcormiertwistedintimacy.omeka.net/items/show/41" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Robert Cormier's letter to Miss Marilyn Marlow 4 October 1960</a>
JPG, 8.5x11 onion skin
English
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Letter">Letter</a>
Worcester Phoenix Tenderness review
This review explores Cormier's novel <em>Tenderness</em>. It touches upon the terrifying realism of the plot and the characters. Later, it quotes Cormier's discussion regarding character development; specifically the ways that characters come alive for him through the writing process. It closes with Cormier's thoughts about Eric, and the mix of humanity and evil he represents.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Keri+Smith">Keri Smith</a>
The Worcester Phoenix
Robert E. Cormier Collection at Fitchburg State University's Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
11 Paril 1997
AnnaMary L. Consalvo
Katharine Covino
Elise Takehana
JPG, 8.5x11
English
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Newspaper+review">Newspaper review</a>
"That Tender Touch" book review of <em>Tenderness</em>
This review addresses the novel <em>Tenderness</em> as a book for older, young adult readers. Much of the piece focuses on Cormier's portrayals of Eric and Lori. The author contends that the two teens, though different in many ways, share a twisted search for tenderness. Zvirin does note that the novel is not as textured as thrillers in the adult market, but has enough "psychological underpinnings" for teen readers. Also, she comments on the increased sexual content, even if artfully implied rather than explicit, than is typical for Cormier.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Stephanie+Zvirin">Stephanie Zvirin</a>
<em>Booklist</em>
Robert E. Cormier Collection at Fitchburg State University's Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
1 February 1997
AnnaMary L. Consalvo
Katharine Covino
Elise Takehana
JPG, 8.5x11
English
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Book+review">Book review</a>
"Holding To What Is Magic" John Fitch IV Column
This John Fitch IV article is one of a few in which Cormier talks about magic and dad jokes. Here, as in other pieces, he links magic and the belief in magic to the innocence of childhood. When he teaches his daughter a trick, he is sad for the lost magic and thinks forward to all the other things that will lose their magic as she grows.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Robert+Cormier">Robert Cormier</a>
Robert E. Cormier Collection at Fitchburg State University's Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
1 March 1973
AnnaMary L. Consalvo
Katharine Covino
Elise Takehana
JPG, 8.5x14
English
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Newspaper+column">Newspaper column</a>
"Words that Linger" John Fitch IV Column
In this John Fitch IV piece, Cormier shares a conversation he had with his 6-year-old daughter about his 10 favorite words in the English language. Their conversation was spurred on by Cormier's reading of several such lists of beautiful and ugly words. Amongst his beautiful words is "tender."
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Robert+Cormier%0D%0A">Robert Cormier
</a>
<em>Fitchburg Sentinel</em>
Robert E. Cormier Collection at Fitchburg State University's Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
4 April 1973
AnnaMary L. Consalvo
Katharine Covino
Elise Takehana
JPG, 8.5x14
English
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Newspaper+column">Newspaper column</a>
"A Purple Lollipop In Hand" John Fitch IV Column
In this John Fitch IV column, Cormier talks about visiting various places with his daughter. Their divergent observations, preferences, and feelings about the stops - libraries, cemeteries, ponds, etc. - again reveal her innocence and his age. He recognizes the opportunities children provide to their parents by giving them access to places and excursions that would appear bizarre for an adult to frequent alone.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Robert+Cormier%0D%0A">Robert Cormier
</a>
<em>Fitchburg Sentinel</em>
Robert E. Cormier Collection at Fitchburg State University's Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
10 May 1977
AnnaMary L. Consalvo
Katharine Covino
Elise Takehana
JPG, 8.5x14
English
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Newspaper+column">Newspaper column</a>
"Dear John: Please Don't Go Away..." John Fitch IV Column
In this John Fitch IV column, Cormier conducts an interview with himself. That is, John Fitch IV talks to Bob Cormier. Cormier praises Fitch's worldliness, finesse, audacity, and charm with the ladies that he cannot get away with himself. Cormier calls Fitch his fall guy and his Mr. Hyde.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Robert+Cormier%0D%0A">Robert Cormier
</a>
<em>Fitchburg Sentinel</em>
Robert E. Cormier Collection at Fitchburg State University's Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
17 May 1973
AnnaMary L. Consalvo
Katharine Covino
Elise Takehana
JPG, 8.5x14
English
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Newspaper+column">Newspaper column</a>
"The Hair Cut" John Fitch IV Column
In this John Fitch IV column, Cormier tells the story of his daughter's haircut experience, with all the excitement and anxiety that entails for a young girl. He touches on his own barbershop anxieties and his opinions on women's hairstyles. He is relieved that his daughter is happy with her new style but it still feels like the same person.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Robert+Cormier%0D%0A">Robert Cormier
</a>
<em>Fitchburg Sentinel</em>
Robert E. Cormier Collection at Fitchburg State University's Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
5 June 1973
AnnaMary L. Consalvo
Katharine Covino
Elise Takehana
<a href="https://robertcormiertwistedintimacy.omeka.net/items/show/77" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">"And So On -- Ten Years Old" John Fitch IV Column</a>
JPG, 8.5x14
English
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Newspaper+column">Newspaper column</a>