[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 33 (Friday, February 23, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E174]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





              HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF ROBIE HARRIS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ROSA L. DeLAURO

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, February 23, 2024

  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, it is with the fondest of memories and the 
heaviest of hearts that I rise today to remember author, educator, and 
my dear friend, Robie Harris, who we lost earlier this year. Robie was 
an extraordinary woman--a fierce defender of free speech, a dedicated 
teacher, an inspiring author, as well as a loyal friend and devoted 
wife and mother. Hers is a remarkable legacy as an advocate for 
children that will continue to inspire many.
  Born in Buffalo, New York, Robie discovered her love for the written 
word very early in life. As she told it, at just six years old she 
``published'' her first work, Robie's Stories, an assignment from her 
kindergarten teacher. It was comprised of pictures and journal memories 
that each child produced every day that were then compiled into a book 
at the end of the year. As Robie grew up, so did her love of reading, 
writing, and learning--so much so that she would go on to dedicate her 
professional life to them.
  Robie went on to become the editor of both her high school newspaper 
as well as her college yearbook. Alter earning her undergraduate degree 
at Wheaton College, Robie moved to New York City where she initially 
found work at the United Nations. However, she knew that this was not 
her passion, so she pursued a teaching degree at Bank Street College of 
Education. Following the completion of her degree from Bank Street, she 
became an elementary school teacher at the Bank Street School for 
Children, where she taught writing and later directed after-school 
programs in the school's new Head Start program.
  It was through her work with children, as well as the experience of 
watching her own children and nieces and nephews grow up, that Robie 
found a voice as a children's book author. She was inspired by the many 
questions and curiosities she heard from them and made it her mission 
to write and produce books that would help them navigate the many 
changes they would experience as they moved from one stage of 
development to the next. Robie's first book, a collaborative effort 
with fellow author and friend, Elizabeth Levy was Before You Were 
Three: How You Began to Walk, Talk, Explore, and Have Feelings, and her 
first solo books included the picture books Don't Forget to Come Back 
and I Hate Kisses.
  Over the course of her writing career, Robie maintained her 
commitment to writing nonfiction, age-appropriate books, writing more 
than thirty titles that covered a multitude of topics including 
engineering, architecture, nutrition, math, death, and genetics. But it 
was her groundbreaking work, It's Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, 
Growing Up, and Sexual Health, a guided preadolescent children on 
puberty, their changing bodies, sexuality, and sexual health, that was 
not only her most successful, but also drove Robie's fierce advocacy 
for free speech. While praised by medical professionals, child 
development specialists, and educators for its accuracy, reliability 
and for offering children clear guidance on the topic, as well as 
having been translated into 27 languages and sold one million copies, 
and having been updated numerous times, including a 25th anniversary 
edition; this title has ranked among the most frequently challenged and 
banned books in the country according to the American Library 
Association.
  Robie was an active member of PEN America, an organization that works 
to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide and 
champion the freedom to write because they understand the 
transformational power of words. Robie was a founding member of PEN 
America's Children's and Young Adults Books Committee and she was known 
for her calm, tactful, yet staunch and unwavering advocacy for the 
freedom of expression. In an essay for PEN, Robie once wrote, ``I write 
books for children because in some small way I hope that they will find 
the words I write useful, reassuring, interesting, and at times 
humorous and also in some small way help them to stay emotionally and/
or physically healthy by giving honest, accurate, up-to-date, and age-
appropriate information.'' Robie was fearless in her defense of her 
work and that of other writers. She once said in an interview, ``This 
to me is the bottom line on freedom of expression. As a reader, you 
have the right to speak out for or against whatever you read. As a 
writer, I have the right to write whatever I want to write--and I am 
just not going to stop.''
  Robie's passion for working with children, particularly in early 
childhood development, was a shared mission. Her husband, Bill Harris, 
is the founder of KidsPac, a group that helped to focus legislators at 
every level of government on the importance of early childhood 
education. For more than two decades KidsPac was a leader and respected 
voice in the advocacy for policies concerning childcare, prenatal 
health, and early education. Robie and Bill's activism was integrated 
into every facet of their lives, so it is no surprise that both of 
their sons, David and Ben, both followed in their footsteps. David, 
taking a page from his father's work, has focused his professional life 
on research and advocacy for policies that address child poverty. Ben, 
whose interests more mirrored Robie's, is now Clinical Professor at the 
Psychological Center at The City College of New York (CCNY), which 
provides low-to-moderate-cost services to the CCNY and West Harlem 
communities. In this role, and throughout his career, he has worked 
with a socioeconomically and culturally diverse range of children and 
adolescents as well as adults.
  I found a kindred spirit in Robie. She never stopped, and she never 
took no for an answer. I will forever be grateful for the friendship, 
humor, and generosity she bestowed on me over the years. Illustrator 
and dear friend, Michael Emberly probably described her best when he 
said of Robie, ``She was smart and sensitive, kind, and generous beyond 
reckoning. She was a complicated human being in the best sense, and she 
had one of the best attributes you can say about a human being--she was 
memorable.'' I extend my heartfelt condolences to her husband, Bill, 
and her sons, David and Ben. Though we all feel that she was taken from 
us too soon, Robie Harris touched countless lives and she will be 
deeply missed by all those who knew her.

                          ____________________