Myers's+Childhood+(Birth+-+17+yrs.)

Walter Dean Myers was born on a Thursday August 12, 1937 in Martinburg West, Virgina. The name he was given at birth was not Walter Dean Myers but Walter Milton Myers. Walter's mom died when he was 3, but he does not know why he was givin to a man named Herbert Dean who lived in Harlem. He is confused at why he was givin away in the first place but relizes that his dad was to poor to take care of him. Myers was raised by Herbert Dean and his wife Florence. Florence was German and Native American while Herbert was African American. They loved Walter very much. Walter says that his life as a child was geared toward his neighborhood and church. He also said that his neighborhood portected him and the church guided him. (1)

His foster mother taught him how to read even though it was hard for her. She tried her best to teach him. But eventully he grew to love reading. It took him to place within himself that he has been exploring since. He enjoyed reading the most out of everything and he was a good student. But he had a behavioral problem. Walter had a very servere speech difficulty and no one could really understand him. He wanted to conquer the world everyday when he arrived to school but it was hard for him to be patient and he responded by becoming angry. A teacher of his decided that since he could pronounce some words he should write whatever he wants down. So he begain writing poems and short stories. He begain to get praised but only because of his writing.(2)

He wrote well in high school and the teacher recognized this. But she also knew that he was going to drop out of high school. She still advised for him to keep writing no matter what happened .(1) He dropped out of high school at the age of 15. He was brought back and he dropped out again at 16. So, he joined the army at the age of 17. When he got out of the army he didn't have any skills, no confidence, and had a speech problem. Therefore Myer's loaded trucks. He had various jobs including working in a post office and writing for magazines. (2) Walter Dean Myers had a hard and difficult life but over came many obstacals that had came his way.

Refrences (1) [] (2)http://teenreads.com/authors/au-myers-walterdean.asp