Judy Blume interview

In The Telegraph, Melissa Whitworth meets children's writer Judy Blume.

In just over a week's time she turns 70, and shows no signs of zipping up her pencil case - her latest book, The Pain and the Great One: Soupy Saturdays, is a witty collection of children's stories about sibling rivalry. I must confess, though, that such fragile emotionalism is not quite what I'd expected from the woman whom I, as a schoolgirl, regarded as my rock, the non-judgemental adult who truly understood what I was going through. I'd imagined her as a busty Jewish mamma, dishing out advice in gigantic, homely portions. But in person she's delicate and small, with the body of a ballet dancer. She's wearing a loose-fitting turquoise shirt and black capri pants. Her hair is in a short, girlish bob. With her high cheekbones and wide, easy smile she could be mistaken for Jessica Lange.