Actor Richard Crenna as a youth, would often take the bus line to Los Angeles City Library to read Howard Pease Tod Moran stories.
[6][7] Reflected Dirda: "For a long period also I sought out the work of Howard Pease, old-fashioned nautical adventures teeming with frequent and arcane allusions to bilge, Lascars, and fo'csles.
"[8] Freedman, who won the Newbery Medal and valued realism and accuracy in children's writing, called Pease his "literary hero.
Pease expounded these views in an address he delivered in 1939 at an American Library Association "pre-conference" moderated by Frances Clarke Sayers.
While the audience of 400 female librarians concurred with Pease that the lack of male authors and of social realism was a problem, his overall misogynistic tone offended many and damaged his case.
[11] Pease remained interested in the question of realism in children's literature and corresponded with other authors on the topic, including noted librarian Julia Sauer.