JAMES CROSS GIBLIN SCHOLARSHIP
This scholarship was established in honor of James Cross Giblin, with a focus on aiding those who have a strong talent and passion for juvenile nonfiction. The fund will also support attendance at appropriate programs for those working in children’s publishing, and who have the potential to make a long-term professional contribution.
Get more information about the scholarship process and apply here.
The Legacy of James Cross Giblin
The James Cross Giblin Scholarship Fund ensures that Jim’s passion for helping others believe in the magic their writing brings to children is perpetuated.
The Fund, an endowed, ongoing scholarship within the Highlights Foundation, will provide access to our programs for a number of writers, aiding those who have a strong talent and passion for juvenile nonfiction. The fund also supports attendance at appropriate programs for those working in children’s publishing, and having the potential to make long-term contributions.
Here’s a Horn Book interview with Jim Giblin from 2013:
From Kent Brown
Retired Founding Director of The Highlights Foundation
Jim had a profound effect on all parts of the juvenile publishing industry. We knew that, you and I. We have seen it at work.
But what moved me most was Jim’s passion for helping others to believe in the magic their own writing can bring to children. The establishment of the James Cross Giblin Scholarship Fund ensures that passion is perpetual.
Let me tell you about a special moment, one I have never forgotten. July 12, 1986. Chautauqua number two and the first of seventeen years of Jim’s service as faculty for the Highlights Foundation Writers Workshop.
Anna Cross Giblin, Jim’s mother, and her good friend, Jeanne Prahl, were visiting Chautauqua, and had come to the hall to hear Jim speak. After taking the podium, Jim looked out and said,
“Before I begin my talk this morning, I want to introduce you to the person responsible for introducing me to children’s books and reading. Mother, will you please stand.” That was a powerful tribute to a mother…and a mentor.
So many of us who write or publish or teach in the service of children have had special mentors. Often a parent or grandparent or teacher influenced us at an early age. Some of us have been blessed to be able to serve in some small way as mentors for others. I like to think of mentoring as a wonderful cycle, surely less scientific than the Water Cycle of our fifth-grade years, but no less powerful. The influence of a mentor lives far beyond the mentor.
James Cross Giblin has been a mentor for many.
LeeAnn Blankenship, once recounted her first experience with the Highlights Foundation. She remembered a transition from doubt to confidence. It was meeting with Jim Giblin at her first workshop that brought about that transition. “He made me feel like publication could happen to me. I practically flew home in my car. He was so encouraging, and took a personal interest.”
I won’t recite the details of Jim’s career.
But I will tell you about the the James Cross Giblin Scholarship Fund, an endowed, ongoing scholarship program within the Highlights Foundation. Each year, the fund provides access to our programs for a number of writers, with a focus on aiding those who have a strong talent and passion for juvenile nonfiction. The fund will also support attendance at appropriate programs for those working in children’s publishing, and who have the potential to make a long-term professional contribution.
–Kent Brown, Retired Executive Director
To donate by check, make a check payable to: The Highlights Foundation, and send it to: The Highlights Foundation, 814 Court Street, Honesdale, PA 18431. You can reference the name of the scholarship fund in the memo line.