{{Short description|African-American author, editor and publisher (1950–2021)}} {{use dmy dates|date=July 2021}} {{Infobox writer | birth_date = {{birth date|1950|06|30}} | birth_place = New York City, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|2021|06|20|1950|06|30}} | death_place = New York City, U.S. | occupation = Author, editor, publisher | spouse = George Ford | education = Connecticut College (BA) }} '''Bernette Ford''' (June 30, 1950{{snd}}June 20, 2021) was an American author, editor and publisher. She worked as editor-in-chief at Grosset & Dunlap and later Scholastic Books, where she was vice-president of the Cartwheel imprint, which she helped launch. She was known for being one of the few African-American editors working with children's books, having begun her career in the 1970s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dianne |first1=Johnson |editor1-last=Angelyn |editor1-first=Mitchell |title=The Cambridge Companion to African American Women's Literature |date=2009 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |pages=210–223 |chapter=African American Women Writers Of Children's And Young Adult Literature}}</ref>
== Early life and education == Bernette Ford was born on June 30, 1950, in Brooklyn. She was the daughter of Morton, a white factory worker, and Martha Goldsen, a black actress, music teacher, singer and seamstress. She grew up in Uniondale, Long Island.<ref name="ny obituary">{{cite web |last1=Genzlinger |first1=Neil |title=Bernette Ford, Who Made Children's Books More Diverse, Dies at 70 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/14/obituaries/bernette-ford-dead.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=20 July 2021 |date=14 July 2021}}</ref><ref name=":28">{{cite web |last1=Lyons |first1=Kelly Starling |title=Bernette Ford |url=https://thebrownbookshelf.com/28days/bernette-ford/ |website=The Brown Bookshelf |date=7 February 2010 |access-date=20 July 2021}}</ref> Ford graduated in 1972 from Connecticut College.<ref name="pw obituary">{{cite web |last1=Maughan |first1=Shannon |title=Obituary: Bernette Ford |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/86781-obituary-bernette-ford.html |website=Publishers Weekly |access-date=20 July 2021 |language=en |date=29 June 2021}}</ref> She was encouraged by family and friends to become a writer, but due to her lack of knowledge with the profession, Ford instead pursued the publishing career as "a way to get a foot in the door".<ref name=":28" />
== Career == In the same year she graduated, Ford joined Random House's division of children's books as "editorial assistant in training", as part of their "minorities recruitment program."<ref name="pw obituary" /> Ford remained in that position for the first two years there.<ref name="hbook interview" /> Around 1975, she met Valerie Flournoy, Phyllis Fogelman and Tom Feelings, who created a workshop "for the few people of color working in publishing in the mid-1970s."<ref name="pw obituary" /> They eventually founded a group called Black Creators for Children,<ref name="hbook interview" /> which would assist African American authors in creating new works by following a set of philosophies.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Johnson-Feelings |first1=Dianne |title=Black Creators for Children |url=https://www.hbook.com/?detailStory=black-creators-for-children |website=The Horn Book |access-date=20 July 2021 |date=11 June 2019}}</ref> She met her husband, George Ford, during a meeting with this group.<ref name="pw obituary" />
After seven years working for Random House, Ford was hired by Western Publishing to work as senior editor of their children's books imprint, Golden Books.<ref name="pw obituary" /><ref name="li obituary" /> In 1983, she moved to Grosset & Dunlap to work as editor-in-chief, and was then promoted to publisher. During her six years there, Ford worked on expanding ''The Little Engine That Could'' property.<ref name="pw obituary" /> In 1989 she began working with Scholastic Books and helped the company launch their new imprint, Cartwheel Books.<ref name="li obituary">{{cite web |last1=Bonfiglio |first1=Briana |title=Bernette Ford, Champion of Diversity in Children's Books, Dies At 70 |url=https://www.longislandpress.com/2021/07/16/bernette-ford-champion-of-diversity-in-childrens-books-dies-at-70/ |website=LI Press |access-date=20 July 2021 |date=16 July 2021}}</ref> Ford was the vice-president and editorial director of the imprint, and was responsible for starting the ''I Spy'' and the ''Little Bill'' series, the latter authored by Bill Cosby.<ref name="bibr 1-3">{{cite journal |title=Cartwheels |journal=Black Issues Book Review |date=May–June 1999 |volume=1 |issue=3 |page=14 |location=Fairfax}}</ref>
While Ford was working for Scholastic, a friend and co-founder of Just Us Books, Cheryl Willis Hudson, contacted her wanting to turn a poem she had written into a children's book aimed for black children.<ref name="cwh blog">{{cite web |title=Bright Eyes Brown Skin |url=https://cherylwillishudson.wordpress.com/2010/06/13/bright-eyes-brown-skin/ |website=Cheryl Willis Hudson's Blog |access-date=21 July 2021 |language=en |date=13 June 2010}}</ref> Bernette decided to turn the poem into a children's picture book instead, which was then illustrated by George. This was the first time she collaborated as a coauthor.<ref name="bibr 1-3" /><ref name="cwh blog" />
Ford worked with Scholastic until 2002,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rust |first1=Suzanne |title=Let Every Child Relate |journal=Black Issues Book Review |date=September–October 2004 |volume=6 |issue=5 |page=58 |location=Fairfax}}</ref> when she decided to leave to found her own company in 2003, a book packaging business called Color-Bridge Books. The company's first job was the production of a new series for beginner readers, called ''Just for You!''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gilton |first1=Donna L. |title=Multicultural and Ethnic Children's Literature in the United States |date=2020 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-5381-3841-0 |page=126 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cc7LDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Color-Bridge+Books%22+Bernette&pg=PA126 |language=en}}</ref> All the books were illustrated and written by people of color.<ref name="hbook interview">{{cite web |last1=Sutton |first1=Roger |title=An Interview with George and Bernette Ford |url=https://www.hbook.com/?detailStory=an-interview-with-george-and-bernette-ford |website=The Horn Book |access-date=20 July 2021 |date=28 May 2019}}</ref>
== Personal life and death == Bernette was married to George Ford. She died of lung cancer on June 20, 2021, at her house in Brooklyn.<ref name="ny obituary" />
== Selected works == * {{cite book|title=Bright Eyes, Brown Skin|publisher=Just Us Books|year=1990|isbn=9780590454162|author1=Cheryl Willis Hudson|author2=Bernette G. Ford}} * {{cite book|title=Hurry Up!|series=Just for You! series|publisher=Fitzgerald Books|year=2003|author=Bernette G. Ford|isbn=9781424202195}} * {{cite book|title=No More Pacifier for Piggy!|publisher=Boxer Books|year=2008|isbn=9781905417896|author=Bernette G. Ford}}
== References == {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Bernette}} Category:American women editors Category:American editors Category:1950 births Category:2021 deaths Category:Writers from Brooklyn Category:20th-century African-American women writers Category:20th-century African-American writers Category:21st-century African-American women writers Category:21st-century African-American writers Category:20th-century American women writers Category:21st-century American women writers Category:American women children's writers Category:American children's writers Category:African-American children's writers Category:Deaths from lung cancer in New York (state) Category:Connecticut College alumni