John Donovan (1928 - April 29, 1992) was an American writer of

young adult literature Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. It is characterized by simpler world build ...

. He is best known for his 1969 novel '' I'll Get There. It Better Be Worth the Trip'', the first known young adult novel to directly address the subject of

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

.Rumaan Alam
''Worth the Trip''
''

Los Angeles Review of Books The ''Los Angeles Review of Books'' (''LARB'' is a literary review magazine covering the national and international book scenes. A preview version launched on Tumblr in April 2011, and the official website followed one year later in April 201 ...

'', September 23, 2014.

Early life

Born in

Lynn, Massachusetts Lynn is the eighth-largest List of municipalities in Massachusetts, municipality in Massachusetts, United States, and the largest city in Essex County, Massachusetts, Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line ...

, Donovan was educated at the

College of William and Mary The College of William & Mary (abbreviated as W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III and Queen Mary II, it is the second-oldest instit ...

and the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

. He worked for the copyright office of the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

before briefly joining

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan in New York City. It is headquartered in the Equitable Building (New York City), Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishe ...

Career

Donovan published his first work as a writer, ''The Little Orange Book'', in 1961."It's Worth The Trip: A Journey Through John Donovan's I'll Get There. It Better Be Worth The Trip"
Google Sites. In 1967, he became executive director of the Children's Book Council, a position he held until his death. In this position, he actively advocated for literature that addressed real life issues faced by children and teenagers. ''I'll Get There. It Better Be Worth the Trip'' was named, in 2021, as one of ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine's "The 100 Best YA Books of All Time." Donovan's later children's and young adult books included ''Wild in the World'', ''Good Old James'' and ''Family''. He also wrote two short plays, ''Damn You, Scarlett O'Hara'' and ''All My Pretty Ones'', which were published in 1963 and staged

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

in 1964 under the collective title ''Riverside Drive''. The play's staging at New York City's

Theatre de Lys The Lucille Lortel Theatre is an off-Broadway playhouse at 121 Christopher Street in Manhattan's West Village. It was built in 1926 as a 590-seat movie theater called the New Hudson, later known as Hudson Playhouse. The interior design is large ...

starred

Sylvia Sidney Sylvia Sidney (born Sophia Kosow; August 8, 1910 – July 1, 1999) was an American stage, screen, and film actress whose career spanned 70 years. She rose to prominence in dozens of leading roles in the 1930s. She was nominated for the Academy ...

and

Donald Woods Donald James Woods (15 December 1933 – 19 August 2001) was a South African journalist and anti-apartheid activist. As editor of the ''Daily Dispatch'', he was known for befriending fellow activist Steve Biko, who was killed by police after ...

Personal life

Donovan's longtime partner was Stan Raiff, a theatre producer. The couple lived in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. Donovan died on April 29, 1992, of cancer. His niece Stacey Donovan, also a published author, was the executor of his estate, and was involved in the 2010 republication of ''I'll Get There''. ''I'll Get There'' was the subject of an essay by Martin Wilson in the 2010 book '' The Lost Library: Gay Fiction Rediscovered''."The Lost Library: Gay Fiction Rediscovered Edited by Tom Cardamone". ''

The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide ''The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide'' (formerly ''The Harvard Gay & Lesbian Review'') is a bimonthly, nationally distributed magazine of history, culture, and politics for LGBT people and their allies who are interested in the gamut of social, ...

'', May 4, 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donovan, John 1928 births 1992 deaths 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights American writers of young adult literature American male novelists American male dramatists and playwrights American LGBTQ novelists American LGBTQ dramatists and playwrights American gay writers LGBTQ people from Massachusetts Gay novelists Gay dramatists and playwrights Writers from Lynn, Massachusetts Novelists from Massachusetts Writers from New York City University of Virginia alumni 20th-century American male writers Novelists from New York (state) 20th-century American LGBTQ people