Award-winning author Van Hook dies
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By Times Staff | Wednesday, August 13, 2008 |
Beverly Hennen Van Hook, award-winning journalist and best-selling author from the Quad-Cities, died Wednesday at her home in Charlottesville, Va. Beverly was 67 years old and died after a short but valiant battle with pancreatic cancer. (Shirley Davis/QUAD-CITY TIMES) Buy this Photo
Beverly Hennen Van Hook, award-winning journalist and best-selling author from the Quad-Cities, died Wednesday at her home in Charlottesville, Va. Beverly was 67 years old and died after a short but valiant battle with pancreatic cancer.
In 1985, she wrote and published her first book in the Supergranny mystery series, about a gray-haired detective who drives a red Ferrari and solved mysteries with the help of three neighborhood children, an Old English sheepdog, and a gumdrop-eating robot. There are seven books in this popular, award-winning children’s series. Supergranny has now been continuously in print for more than 20 years, a record among independently published books.
Born Feb. 2, 1941 to John C. and Arretta G. Hennen in Huntington, W.Va., she was always an avid reader and decided to become a writer after reading Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women at the age of 10. Graduating from Ohio University in 1962 cum laude with honors in history and a degree in journalism, she began her business and writing career in Dayton, Ohio, where she met her husband, Don, who had graduated from Ohio University two years earlier and had worked in the same dormitory cafeteria. They were married Oct. 26, 1963.
In early 1964, the young couple moved to Burlington, Vt., where Beverly was a city reporter for the Burlington Free Press and Don worked for a local advertising agency. Deere & Co., the international agricultural equipment company, then offered Don a position in their in-house advertising operation, based in Moline. Beverly quickly became editor of a monthly publication for Augustana College in nearby Rock Island.
While her children were young, Beverly worked as a successful freelance writer, publishing articles in national publications including Reader’s Digest and Family Circle. When Deere & Co. transferred the family to Germany for nearly four years in the mid-’70s, she continued freelancing, publishing a very successful series on what it was like for an American family to experience German culture and send their children to German schools. Once back in the Quad Cities, she wrote award-winning feature articles for the Quad-City Times, co-hosted her own radio talk show, and had a special television segment on the local ABC-affiliate evening news reviewing books.
The success of the Supergranny books led to high demand for Beverly as a speaker at schools and libraries. Over a 15-year period, she spoke to more than a half million children between the ages of 8 to 12. The books are still used in schools across the Midwest, and the series has been optioned three times by Hollywood production companies for the movies.
Beverly also wrote and published two mysteries for adults featuring a middle-aged couple as detectives, Liza and Dutch Randolph. She published her last book, a memoir called Boss Supergranny, in 2007. In all, Beverly wrote and published 11 books.
Beverly and Don moved to Charlottesville in 1993 to be closer to family. It was also a move back to Beverly’s roots. She is a direct descendent of early Albemarle County planters Nicolas Meriwether and Robert Lewis, the grandfather of famous explorer Meriwether Lewis.
Beverly is survived by her husband of 45 years, Don; daughter Andrea Van Hook of Sherman Oaks, Calif.; son and daughter-in-law Drs. James and Laurie Van Hook of Fairfax, Va.; daughter, Alison Van Hook of Des Moines; and grandchildren Donny, Sarah and Olivia. She is also survived by her sister, Mary Alice Hennen of Huntington, W. Va., and her brother and sister-in-law Dr. John C. Hennen and Dr. Susan Creasup of Morehead, Ky.
A family visitation will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday in the Hill and Wood Funeral Home, 201 North First St., Charlottesville, Va. A memorial service will be held at First Presbyterian Church, 500 Park Street, Charlottesville, Va., at 3 p.m. Sunday.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to H.O.P.E., Martha Jefferson Hospital, 459 Locust Avenue, Charlottesville, VA 22902; Hospice of the Piedmont, 2200 Old Ivy Road, Suite 2, Charlottesville, VA 22903, or the Ohio Valley Environmental Council (OVEC), PO Box 6753, Huntington, WV 25773.
Friends may send condolences to the family at www.hillandwood.com.
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