Mark Oppenheimer, Journalist, historian, and acclaimed author of five books, including "Squirrel Hill and The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia," sits down with Callie Crossley, host of GBH's Under the Radar, for a discussion of his new biography about Judy Blume.
To know the name Judy Blume is to know and love literature. Her influential novels are classics, from "Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret" to "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing." Blume touched the lives of tens of millions of readers. For more than fifty-five years her work has done something revolutionary: it rewired the world’s expectations of what literature for young people can be, offering frank and candid views of the messier sides of humanity. Yet little is known about the woman behind the iconic persona, and the unlikely journey of her literary ascension, until now.
