Corduroy’s stories
May 30th, 2008
Introduction (by Roy): Over the years I have received many personal stories on how CORDUROY, the book by my father Don Freeman, has touched people. I will excerpt some of these below. You, the reader, are welcome to add more.
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Dear Roy,
I was given a copy of “Corduroy” when I adopted my older son from Russia,
and I have always viewed it as a classic adoption story. When I read it now with
my younger son, also adopted from Russia, I see in it the story of many older
orphans, who are passed up by adoptive parents because of their age and
other “defects”. I am planning to write a blog post on reading “Corduroy” as as
adoptive parent on my Web site, but I wonder whether Don Freeman even had
adoption in mind when he wrote the book? Thanks!
V.C.
3 Responses to “Corduroy’s stories”
Here is another comment I received in 2007:
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Dear Mr. Freeman,
I just wanted to write and make you aware of something that has truly touched my heart. I picked up a copy of National Geographic recently and skimmed an article on Arlington National Cemetery by Rick Atkinson. At the end of the issue, Rick gives a brief statement about how the assignment affected him. Then he states that the one thing that really got to him was witnessing the mother of a soldier buried there who comes once every few weeks and sits at her son’s grave, reading from the book “Corduroy” (his favorite as a child) and then plays his favorite songs from an iPod. As the mother of two grown sons, who also loved that book, my heart goes out to her. I just wanted to share this with you, although you may have already been informed. All the best,
S.M.
I just visited my parents’ home across the country, and my mother pulled out boxes of books from the attic she’d been saving for years for grandchildren. Among the books were 2 of my beloved favorites, Corduroy and Dandelion. Reading Corduroy to my 4 y.o. daughter and watching her eyes fill with joy and affection, reminded me of how much the book used to fill me with joy myself as a child. Every night since we’ve been back home, she has asked for me to read Corduroy.
I’m also awed that your father had the prescience to matter-of-factly make the main (human) character an African-American girl. There are so few books from the 1960s which include characters other than white children. It was wonderful to have my biracial adopted daughter, who loves her piggy bank too, have another story character who also happens to look like her.
Dear V. C.,
Don himself was practically an orphan. His mother died when he was about 3 years old. His father, although he loved Don and Don’s older brother, Warren, very much, gave them over to a guardian. Don and Warren grew up in Chula Vista with this guardian woman, they did not know a family life. Don writes of these young years in his unpublished autobiography “Jigsaw Summer”.
Over the years other readers have also noted the themes of “abandonment” and “adoption” in connection with Corduroy, you certainly have hit a genuine vein here. However, I am 100% sure that Don never had this consciously in mind when he wrote Corduroy. He never spoke about his youth to me. I do not even know what his mother’s (my grandmother’s) name was, nor why she died. Even in Jigsaw Summer, he retells of this time with a sense of humor, one must read carefully between the lines to see that he has other feelings buried there.