Following the passing of esteemed children’s author Beverly Cleary, who died Thursday at the age of 104, fans, former young readers, and fellow writers took to social media to remember the impact of Cleary’s funny, engaging, and relatable stories, including To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before author Jenny Han, Little Fires Everywhere author Celeste Ng, and Princess Diaries author Meg Cabot. Recalled Viola Davis, “You made my childhood fun,†while Reece Witherspoon tweeted, “I have the fondest memories reading the Ramona series.â€
Oregonians, in particular, paid tribute to Cleary, as the author was born in McMinnville and grew up in Yamhill and Portland, a childhood she described her 1988 memoir A Girl From Yamhill. Cleary was remembered by Portland mayor Ted Wheeler; the state’s governor, Kate Brown; and congressmen Kurt Schrader and Earl Blumenauer, the latter of whom paid a visit to Portland’s Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden to see the city’s statues of Cleary’s beloved characters, Ramona Quimby and Henry Huggins.