Robert Cormier Collection 

The  second record group contains material about Mr. Cormier and his writings. Except for a small number of items, these materials are secondary sources of information. When Mr. Cormier began to have his works published, he started to collect the reviews and publicity that accompanied his writings. By the time of the Collection Presentation, there were a sizable yet workable number of items.

After consultation with Mr. Cormier and Dr. McCaffrey, it was decided to use the resources of the FSC Library to enlarge these holdings as much as possible. The materials have been organized into the following series: Reviews, Criticisms; Collection Presentation; Biographies and Interviews; Publicity; Censorship; Books owned by Mr. Cormier; FSC Class materials; and Award and Honors.

The first two series are probably the most important of the record group. They include book reviews and criticisms of his novels. The review series includes copies of reviews published in, among others, THE NEW YORK TIMES, ATLANTIC MONTHLY, etc.

The series also includes reviews of the video adaptations of I AM THE CHEESE; reviews of the audio adaptations of AFTER THE FIRST DEATH; THE CHOCOLATE WAR, and I AM THE CHESE; and it includes numerous lists of recommended readings published by LIBRARY JOURNAL, THE NEW YORK TIMES, among others.

The criticisms and interpretations series contain analysis of Mr. Cormier's works. These would include critiques that are published and unpublished. There is a folder for each novel and a folder containing critiques of a general nature. Among the published essays are those from ALAN REVIEW, WILSON LIBRARY BULLETIN, etc.

Th Biography and Interview series provides sources of information of Mr.Cormier. The interviews reveal biographical information so it was decided to file them in the same series. The documents include newspapers, magazines, and transcripts of audio interviews. See especially BOSTON MAGAZINE; THE BOSTON SUNDAY GLOBE; ST. ANTHONY MESSENGER; HORN BOOK; CONTEMPORARY AUTHORS, NR Vol. 5.

Mr. Cormier' novel, THE CHOCOLATE WAR especially, have been the repeated target of various school boards of education which have attempted to have it withdrawn from Libraries and from teachers reading lists. The Censorship series contains articles from newspapers which document these attempts; Mr. Cormier's ideas and beliefs about censorship; correspondence between Mr. Cormier and various groups of teachers and librarians; and pamphlets about censorship that he has collected. There are articles from Massachusetts, South Carolina, Arizona, Texas, and Georgia.

                           AUDIO-VISUAL LOTS

Th  Audio/Visual lots contain the following types of material: Photographs; Video Tapes; Audio Recordings; Realia; and Posters. Each of these types of materials has an individual lot and the photographs have been divided into two distinct lots.

The first lot is an alphabetically arranged collection of regular size and oversize photographic prints. They are mostly photographs, but there are a few book jackets included. The prints are either of Mr. Cormier or have been given to him. They include family photographs and mementos of his visits to schools or libraries. The regular size (6x8") and the oversize (larger than 6x8") are in two separate cartons and each is in alphabetical order.

Lot number two consists of a set of Large Format photographs. There are 23 black and white prints which depict various scenes of the Fitchburg-Leominster area that became the settings for scenes in Mr. Cormier's writings.

Lot number three includes video tapes. There are four tapes dealing with the movie I AM THE CHEESE. These include a television clip from "Evening Magazine"; edited and unedited versions of the Robert Cormier Roast that took place in April 1983; and 2 VCR cassettes recordings of the film. The final tape is entitled CHEESE,CHOCOLATE AND KIDS: A Day with Robert Cormier. Other tapes include an adaptation of I AM THE CHEESE entitled LAPSE OF MEMORY; THE BUMBLEBEE FLIES ANYWAY; and THE CHOCOLATE WAR.

The recordings lot contains records and cassettes. There is a 1944 record containing poems and readings by Mr. Cormier; a recording of a song "Disturb the Universe"; and various other tape recorded interviews and speeches. The Lot also contains dramatizations of THE CHOCOLATE WAR, AFTER THE FIRST DEATH, and I AM THE CHEESE. These were produced by Miller-Brody Productions. See Lot 3 content note for a detailed explanation.

Realia is a collection of physical items. They include the bicycle used in the film I AM THE CHEESE; pieces to a game dealing with the scenes and characters of some of the novels; and soft sculpture. See Lot 4 content note for a detailed explanation.

The final lot is a collection of posters and wall hangings. They are oversize prints that are too large to be placed with the photographs. They include movie posters for I AM THE CHEESE; student designed posters; blow-ups of book jackets; and a collage presented to Mr. Cormier by the staff of Leominster Public Library.