JAMIE MCEWAN Q&A for Willy the Scrub

QUESTION:  You are an Olympic medalist, but were you always athletically gifted? Or were you once a "scrub" like Willy?

JAMIE MCEWAN: I was very much a scrub like Willy.

QUESTION:  Were your parents athletic when you were growing up? And how did that affect your desire to be a jock?

JAMIE MCEWAN: Both my parents were athletic. My father coached football, soccer, and baseball, and my mother taught swimming and tennis, swam in a synchronized swimming group, and led a Mariner Scout (sailing) troop. I was exposed to a lot of sports. My mother in particular set an example of doing sports for fun, without worrying too much about winning.

QUESTION: Canoe and kayaking events are very exciting, but how does a kid get involved in such an unusual sport?

JAMIE MCEWAN: There has to be a local club, or at least an interested adult or two around.  Many, but not all, cities have local clubs. I got involved through family canoeing trips, and through the very active Washington, D.C. club, the Canoe Cruisers Association.

QUESTION: Why did you decide to put Willy in more traditional sports than those in which you competed and medaled?

JAMIE MCEWAN: I put Willy into more traditional sports partly because they are familiar to the average reader, but also because this followed my own career: I played football for ten years, and was always a scrub; and my first year of wrestling was quite unsuccessful. I did eventually improve in wrestling, and wrestled varsity through high school and college. I was captain of the team my senior year at Yale.

QUESTION: Do any of the characters in the book seem autobiographical?

JAMIE MCEWAN: Willy, very much so!

QUESTION: Why do you think some boys are natural athletes while others are not?

JAMIE MCEWAN: I like to say that everyone's an athlete. Some learn faster than others, in sports as well as in everything else; this is because of a combination of aptitude, attitude, styles of learning, and environment from pre-natal on up. But everyone uses his or her body, just as everyone uses his or her brain.

QUESTION: Would you be disappointed if your children weren't super jocks?

JAMIE MCEWAN: My children are not super jocks, though they all have that potential (as do most people). No, I'm not disappointed. I'm happy that they are all active, healthy people who can come out on the river with me when they're home! In return my daughters pull me out on the dance floor when they get the chance.

QUESTION: Do you like your book's illustrations?  Why or why not?

JAMIE MCEWAN: I do like the book's illustrations, which are skillful and casual at the same time.

QUESTION: Do you think girls should be good athletes along with boys?

JAMIE MCEWAN: As I mentioned before, I think everyone's an athlete. Not everyone has to be good, nor does everyone have to be interested in the same sport?nor in any kind of competition. My daughters spend more time dancing (jazz, ballet, tap) than in any other activity, though they both swim, paddle, and play soccer and lacrosse as well.

QUESTION: How much did your wife, Sandra Boynton influence your work?

JAMIE MCEWAN: As my best friend and intellectual sparring partner, Sandy influences everything I do. I like to think that I influence her as well. But I can't think of any direct influence, besides hiding the chocolate!

QUESTION: Sandra illustrated one book for you. Any chance she'll do that again for this book if you write a sequel?

JAMIE MCEWAN: Sandy has collaborated on two books with me: The Story of Grump and Pout (Crown, 1988) and The Heart of Cool (Simon and Schuster, 2001). But Sandy does not like to draw human characters, so that when I did a book for older children it seemed appropriate for someone else to illustrate. When I do a sequel?which I'm working on?I think this reasoning would still apply. If I did a book for younger children, however, with animal characters, then I would consider asking her to illustrate for me once more.

QUESTION: Would you have read your own book when you were a kid?

JAMIE MCEWAN: When I was a kid I read everything I could get my hands on. I can see myself reading Willy the Scrub, thinking about it for thirty seconds, and then going on to read the cereal box.