History of Reading News. Vol.XXIII No.1 (1999:Fall)
by Heather Henson

Editors Note: Bill Morris, HarperCollins, and the annual IRA conferences seem to go together. Morris has been exhibiting books at IRA for many years and is known and loved by thousands of teachers and administrators across the nation. Bill is very knowledgeable about children's books and their creators, as he is responsible for bringing us many outstanding writers including Eve Bunting, Sharon Creech, Lee Bennett Hopkins, Katherine Paterson, Seymour Siman, Jerry Spinelli and Jane Yolen. It is through Bill's efforts that many children have been able to participate in visiting author programs, where these and other authors bring their expertise to school campuses. The following article appeared in the winter 1999 issue of Owslmanac, The Rice University Alumni Magazine and is used with permission.

Some call William C. Morris a foundation stone of children's book publishing. Others speak of him as a catalyst for creating good books for young readers. Part of the reason for this acclaim may be that his career spans close to 45 years, nearly all of which have been spent with one company, HarperCollins--an achievement almost unheard of in these unpredictable publishing times.

But there are more reasons than longevity for the accolades, which come from authors and artists, teachers and librarians, and editors and publishers alike. Morris has reached such a level of influence and respect in the children's book publishing industry that, if he likes and supports a book, it has an excellent chance of making it through the acquisition process and onto bookshelves across the country. As Joanna Cotler, vice president and publisher of her own imprint at HarperCollins Children's Books, notes, "Bill Morris's great feel for books and his deeply committed relationship to authors make him one of the most important forces in the field of children's publishing."

Morris, however, is modest about his influence on the field and, quite simply, sees himself as a middle-man, a liaison between HarperCollins and the institutional world. As vice president and director of library promotion and advertising, he keeps schools and libraries aware of what HarperCollins Children's Books is publishing. He also promotes books at conventions, coordinates author appearances at schools and libraries, arranges advertising and promotional material for the library market, and sends out review copies of new titles to his list of 400 library reviewing groups across the country.

Bill Morris was born in Eagle Pass, Texas--a small town about 120 miles southwest of San Antonio. His mother, a schoolteacher, had been forbidden by her own Southern Methodist mother to join sororities in college, so she was determined that her son be able to join a fraternity. But young Morris had other ideas. "I chose the only school in Texas I knew of that didn't have fraternities," Morris says with a sly smile. "Of course, later I joined the Rally Club, which was almost the same as a fraternity."

Fresh out of high school during the final years of World War II, Morris remembers that the Rice dorms were taken

over by the navy. He and the other civilians who were too young to be drafted lived in a boarding house off campus. Morris started out on a premed track, but, he says, "I wasn't really cut out to be a doctor. I hated chemistry." He "stopped cold" when he realized he had to memorize the names of all the muscles in the human body.

William C. Morris

Then, during his sophomore year, he met Professor Alan McKillop, who introduced him to the English novel. "It changed my life," Morris affirms. "It opened whole worlds to me." Under McKillop's guidance, Morris changed his major from premed to humanities. Later, as Morris was finishing his studies at Rice, McKillop was inaugurating Rice's graduate program in English. McKillop asked Morris to stay and work toward a master's, but Morris felt it was time to see more of the world. He went to Duke University, where he received a master's in American literature, then he served for two years in the army during the Korean War. After that, he headed to New York to try his luck with publishing.

Morris's publishing career had a humble beginning--he took a job as Christmas help at the Doubleday Bookstore in Grand Central Station. After Christmas, Morris stayed on but, at the end of a year, was told he didn't have a future in selling books. "I wouldn't go to 'plus-sell.'" Morris says. In other words, he would do his best to help customers find the books they wanted, but he wouldn't try to persuade them to buy related books, something the company expected him to do .

After Doubleday, he found work as a temporary secretary

at Harper & Brothers, which evolved into a permanent job as a sales representative promoting both adult and children's titles. During his 10 years as a sales rep, he was occasionally asked by editors in the adult trade division to read manuscripts and report on them.

In 1965, Morris was appointed head of advertising and promotion for Harper & Row's children's division, and he began working specifically with school and public librarians and teachers. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, he talked about children's books to educators unfamiliar with titles that were not textbooks, and he helped expand Harper's policy of sending review copies of children's books to many professionals interested in using them in classrooms. He also began helping teachers sponsor author visits to schools and professional conferences.

In 1991, Morris was appointed a HarperCollins vice president, and in 1992, he was honored with a tribute from the Texas Association of School Librarians--one of many honors he would receive during the '90s. The tribute acknowledges his "long-standing support of Texas libraries and librarians" and notes that his "cheerful demeanor and professional manner have made a lasting impression on everyone whose life he touches."

Indeed, John Sigwald considers his first encounter with Morris an important and deeply influential one. They met at a library conference in 1992 and realized they shared more than an interest in children's literature--they were both Rice alumni. "His enthusiasm for children's books is infectious," says Sigwald. "Bill has, in short, facilitated my selection of a professional, and personal, destination: reading children's books and sharing them with others."

Sigwald is now librarian at the Unger Memorial Library in Plainview, Texas, and he writes reviews of children's books for School Library Journal. Sigwald remembers that a few years ago, when a parent challenged the inclusion of a book in the library collection, he contacted Morris. Morris immediately faxed reviews and information to help in Sigwalds's ultimately successful fight to keep the book on the shelves.

When Morris first started out in publishing 45 years ago, few bookstores carried children's books, and none carried them exclusively. At the time, the library market accounted for the lion's share of children's book sales. The business has changed dramatically since then, and now there are entire stores and whole departments of superstores devoted to children's books. Even so, the library market continues to be a powerful and influential one, and Morris's helping hand means a lot.

In fact, he still reads everything that comes across his desk, and editors at HarperCollins rely heavily on his opinion. "In today's world where so much of our publishing is influenced by the bottom line, we are extraordinarily lucky to have Bill Morris," says Kate Jackson, editor-in-chief of HarperCollins Children's Books. "His great experience and wise counsel have time and again reminded us about how our rich tradition of publishing came to be and what we must do to care for our books and our authors and artists."

Morris shrugs off the notion that he is anything more than a simple go-between, but he does acknowledge that his longevity in such a constantly changing business is unique. He also seems to realize that the utter satisfaction he gets from his work is a thing of wonder. His only regret? He sometimes wishes he had more time to read literature written for adults. His favorite novel continues to be one from his Rice days--Tom Jones.

But, with that quick smile and gleam in his eye, Morris makes a most uneditorial comment: "I wouldn't change a thing."