Today is the five year anniversary of Lloyd Alexander’s death and if BYU student Jared Crossley has his way, the whole nation will be celebrating the life of this author by reading his works.
Crossley was first introduced to Lloyd Alexander by his older sister when she began reading the series. Years later, Crossley bought The Chronicles of Prydain, the series his sister had been reading, with the intent to gift them to her.
“For whatever reason, as time went by, I never gave them to my sister,” Crossley said.
What started as a creative admissions project for the media arts program, ended up becoming a life’s work for Crossley, now an elementary education major. Crossley is in the process of creating a short film about Lloyd Alexander.
“I want the film to be seen by Alexander fans worldwide through the internet,” Crossley said, “I would love it to be broadcast on BYUtv or KBYU too.”
The celebration was created in order to raise funds for the non-profit film Crossley hopes will add to the exhibit BYU has in the children’s literature section called “Alexander’s Box.”
“In order to insure his materials were available for research and study by faculty and students, Lloyd Alexander agreed to donate many of his belongings to BYU,” Crossley said. “The exhibit is a recreation of Alexander’s home office, which he always referred to as “The Box” hence, “Alexander’s Box.”
Crossley has reached out to over 50 schools (30,000 plus students) in order to create national recognition for the children’s author. So far, he has heard back from the Free Library of Philadelphia who will be reading Alexander at their story time. Schools in Kenya and local schools have also voiced their participation.
