Sid Fleischman just died.

Children's writer Sid Fleischman -- author of the McBroom stories, By the Great Horn Spoon! and The Whipping Boy, which won the Newbery Medal -- just died, the day after his 90th birthday.

Mr. Fleischman lived less than a mile from my home, and my son and I were lucky enough to interview him last year. He must already have been ill with the cancer that took his life; but when I, a total stranger, emailed him with a request for an interview, he immediately offered a date and directions to his house. This in spite of the fact that all I told him was that I wrote for a homeschooling magazine. He was greatly relieved when he saw the name Secular Homeschooling on the copy I offered at the door.

"I was a little worried when you contacted me," he said. "Homeschoolers have a reputation of being rather conservative, and I'm pretty lefty." I assured him that we are a most diverse community, and the conversation took off from there.

We spent a fascinating three hours with this dryly funny writer, leaving his cozy home with great reluctance. (Such a relief to see a simple family house in a wealthy neighborhood of Santa Monica, now home of the McMansion.) My twelve-year-old son sat almost silent as Mr. Fleischman and I talked, moving only to take many pictures (some of which we used to illustrate the article that the interview became).

After we left, I asked him what he'd thought. "Well, it wasn't like I understood every word of the conversation," he said. (We talked about history, biography, literature, magic, and skepticism, among other topics.) "But I just kept thinking, 'Wow, I'm sitting in Sid Fleischman's house.'"

The death of a 90-year-old man can never come as a surprise; but, as I pointed out to my son, death is always a shock. It was one thing when Lloyd Alexander, whose books I adored as a child, died a few years ago. That was a gentle, nostalgic sadness -- I knew the writing, but the writer was a distant figure. I hadn't read nearly as many of Fleischman's books; but I met him, spent time in his home, heard his soft and slightly raspy voice offer my son a glass of root beer. I have three hours of his life, hours he gave with what strikes me now as extraordinary generosity, recorded and waiting to be listened to again whenever I should choose to.

My son teared up for both of us when I read the news and couldn't restrain my surprised gasp. I want to cry at times like these, but have had to hold tears back so often that it's hard for me to let them out. It hurt to see my son so moved. It also seemed right. I wouldn't take this away from him -- not the chance to have met a great and friendly writer, nor the chance to quietly weep for his passing.

If you haven't read any Sid Fleischman, The Whipping Boy is the funniest book to ever have such a serious-sounding title. My son and I read it together just before the interview and pretty much giggled through the whole thing. I was shocked that a work so genuinely humorous should have won the Newbery. It wouldn't have now -- Mr. Fleischman and I discussed and agreed upon that. Humor has always been underrated, and now our awards are reserved for those who can rip us up the hardest. (Not that this particular humor writer is bitter or anything.)

Fleischman's biography of Houdini is a great work not just of biography but of skepticism. Houdini wanted so much to believe in the supernatural that he wouldn't accept second-rate evidence. Most people think of him primarily as a magician, but during his life he was just as well known (and often hated) for his debunking work.

Every library is packed with Fleischman's books. If you haven't already enjoyed his work, grab a few titles on your next visit. It doesn't matter how old or young your kids are -- you'll find something to suit. That's part of the magic of this kind and funny writer.