Jan Wahl

Jan (pronounced "Yahn") Wahl was born in Columbus, Ohio. His father was physician Russell Rothenburger, and his mother was Nina Marie Boyer Wahl. He had five brothers. Wahl contended that his brother Phil Wahl's exploits shooting commercials in Japan was part of the real-life inspirations for the character played by Bill Murray in the film Lost In Translation (2003), directed by Sofia Coppola. Phil Wahl was once manager of the Augusta National Golf Club. Another brother, Robert C. Wahl, also authored novels and children's books.

As a child he played piano on a radio program called The Kiddies Karnival; the show also featured singer/actress Teresa Brewer. In addition, he once appeared at the Toledo Town Hall theater with the legendary magician Harry Blackstone Sr. He received a B.A. from Cornell University in 1953 where he took classes from Vladimir Nabokov. His Graduate studies were at the University of Copenhagen (Fulbright scholar, 1953-1954) and the University of Michigan (M.A., 1958). During his studies he wrote plays that were produced (such as Paradiso! Paradiso!) and short stories (such as the award-winning Seven Old Maids).

After many years in parts of Europe, New York City, and then Mexico, Wahl made his home in Toledo, Ohio, where he died in 2019.

Wahl's career was both varied and adventurous. He began authoring and publishing children's books in 1964, achieving both artistic and commercial success immediately with the now classic books Pleasant Fieldmouse, Cabbage Moon, Cobweb Castle, and others. Noted artists such as John Alcorn (artist), Edward Gorey, Steven Kellog, Mercer Mayer, Norman Rockwell, Maurice Sendak, and others illustrated his picture books. He soon added story books to his output with the provocative How The Children Stopped The Wars. Wahl quickly developed a reputation for playful, empowering narratives with intriguing characters. Over time, his works demonstrated mastery of a wide variety of topics and styles. He gave many readings and presentations of his books as well as lecturing on writing.

Hedy and Her Amazing Invention (2019); the story of actress Hedy Lamarr's co-invention of what is now known as Frequency-hopping spread spectrum is his latest publication.

Included among his other exploits was spending several months working with noted filmmaker Carl Theodor Dreyer during the filming of Ordet (The Word); the story of which Wahl recounted in the book Carl Theodore Dreyer and Ordet. Later he was the personal secretary to Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen) as she worked on what became Last Tales.[1] He was also involved with Keith Lampe in the early days of the Yippies. In addition, he befriended actress Louise Brooks and some of his correspondence with Brooks was collected in the volume Dear Stinkpot: Letters from Louise Brooks. While in Mexico, he was an on-set script doctor (uncredited) for The Wrath of God (1972) starring Robert Mitchum and Rita Hayworth during its filming. Later, he was also an early consultant on what became Fraggle Rock.

In addition, Wahl was well known as a film historian and collector of films and film history related artifacts and gave lectures and presentations for numerous venues over many years. On March 15, 1996, Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio awarded Wahl the honorary degree Doctor of Letters in recognition of his continuing work in children's literature and in the history of film.[1] Around that time he began presenting introductory lectures for the Sunday Classic Film Series at the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Film Theater and Gallery at BGSU, with over one-hundred-fifty presentations to his credit there through the Spring Semester of 2018 when the series ended. Most of the programs consisted of films from his private collection.

Note: Many of Wahl's works have been republished, some multiple times. Only special instances have been noted here. Several volumes have also been published in Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish language editions. The following lists, though extensive, are not necessarily complete.

• How the Children Stopped the Wars (1969)
• Youth's Magic Horn: Seven Stories (1978)
• Needle and Noodle and Other Silly Stories (1979)
• The Screeching Door, or, What Happened At The Elephant Hotel (1979); (Republished in 2011 as The Screeching Door: Three Spooky Tales with new additional story)
• A Gift For Miss Milo (1990)
• Hedy and Her Amazing Invention (2019)

• Through a Lens Darkly (2008) (Wahl's autobiographical memoirs)
• Dear Stinkpot: Letters from Louise Brooks (2010) (Wahl's commentary on and reprints of his correspondence with the noted actress)
• Carl Theodor Dreyer and Ordet (2012) (Wahl's recollections of his time working with the famed director and some of the director's film-theory essays)

• Avery Hopwood Prize in Short Story Fiction for Seven Old Maids, University of Michigan (1955) [4]
• Young Critic's Award, Bologna International Children's Book Fair for Pocahontas in London (1969)[4]
• Ohioana Book Award for The Norman Rockwell Storybook (1970)[4]
• Parents' Choice Literary Award for Tiger Watch (1987) [4]
• Ohioana Book Award for Humphrey's Bear (1987)[4]
• Redbook Award for Humphrey's Bear (1987)[4]
• Christopher Medal for Humphrey's Bear (1988)[4]
• Coretta Scott King Book Award: Illustrator Honor for Little Eight John (1993)[4]

• Ohio Center for the Book
• Jan Wahl Collection Finding Aid, Bowling Green State University Libraries