Rita E. "Betty" Paraskevas (April 8, 1929 – April 7, 2010)"Ferocious Beast" author Betty Paraskevas dies, 81
. ''forum.bcdb.com'', April 8, 2010 was a New York writer and

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's incom ...

best known for her work on '' Maggie and the Ferocious Beast''. Born in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, prior to becoming a children's author, Paraskevas worked for many years as a playwright and lyricist on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

, working with producer Harry Rigby on shows such as '' Sugar Babies'' and ''

No, No, Nanette ''No, No, Nanette'' is a musical comedy with lyrics by Irving Caesar and Otto Harbach, music by Vincent Youmans, and a book by Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel, based on Mandel's 1919 Broadway play ''My Lady Friends''. The farcical story involves t ...

''. Betty Paraskevas moved to

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

in the mid-1980s. Her collaborations with her son, Michael Paraskevas, began in the early 1990s when Michael – already a successful illustrator – encouraged her to write a story which he could then illustrate. They produced ''On the Edge of the Sea'', which was published by

Dial Books The Dial Press was a publishing house founded in 1923 by Lincoln MacVeagh. The Dial Press shared a building with ''The Dial'' and Scofield Thayer worked with both. The first imprint was issued in 1924. Authors included Elizabeth Bowen, W. R. Bu ...

in 1992. Their second book, which she once again penned, was ''Junior Kroll''. Published in 1993, it led to their first series. Since then the pair produced over 20 books, three of which were turned into television series. Betty Paraskevas died on April 7, 2010, from complications due to pancreatic cancer; in Southampton, New York, one day before her 81st birthday.

Bibliography

: ''With Michael Paraskevas, unless otherwise noted'' *''On the Edge of the Sea'' (Dial Books, 1992) *''Junior Kroll'' (HMH Books for Young Readers, 1993) *''Shamlanders'' (Harcourt Childrens Books, 1993) *''The Strawberry Dog'' (Dial Books, 1993) *''Junior Kroll and Company'' (Harcourt Brace & Company, 1994) *''A Very Kroll Christmas'' (Harcourt Childrens Books, 1994) *''Gracie Graves and the Kids from Room 402'' (Harcourt Childrens Books, 1995) — adapted into ''

The Kids from Room 402 ''The Kids from Room 402'' is an animated series produced by CinéGroupe and Saban Entertainment that premiered on October 9, 1999 on the Fox Family Channel in the USA, and on August 29, 2000 on Teletoon in Canada. It consists of 52 half-hour epi ...

'' *''Cecil Bunions and the Midnight Train'' (Harcourt Childrens Books, 1996) *''The Ferocious Beast with the Polka-Dot Hide'' (Harcourt Childrens Books, 1996) — adapted into '' Maggie and the Ferocious Beast'' *''The Tangerine Bear'' (Harpercollins Childrens Books, 1997) — adapted into ''

The Tangerine Bear ''The Tangerine Bear'' is a 48-minute animated film for children released on November 11, 2000. It was directed by Bert Ring, and is based on the 1997 book of the same name by Betty Paraskevas and Michael Paraskevas. The voice cast includes famou ...

'' *''Hoppy and Joe'' (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 1999) *''Maggie and the Ferocious Beast: The Big Scare'' (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 1999) *''The Big Carrot: A Maggie and the Ferocious Beast Book'' (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 2000) *''On the Day the Tall Ships Sailed'' (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 2000) *''Nibbles O'Hare'' (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 2001) *''Marvin the Tap-Dancing Horse'' (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 2001) — adapted into ''

Marvin the Tap-Dancing Horse ''Marvin the Tap-Dancing Horse'' (also known as ''Edouard et Martin'' for the French dub in Quebec) is a children's animated television series co-produced by Nelvana and Hong Guang Animation for Teletoon and PBS Kids. It tells the stories of a youn ...

'' *''The Green Monkeys'' (Paraskevas Gallery, 2002)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paraskevas, Betty 1929 births 2010 deaths Deaths from pancreatic cancer American children's writers American lyricists