Jerry Spinelli: The Boy Behind the Writer "The first 15 years of my life turned out to be one long research project" (Seidman, David, 9). When he was young, Jerry Spinelli didn't think his calling in life was to be a writer. Everything he did led him to think he was born to be a cowboy. In second grade he even came to the front of his class and sang “I Have Spurs that Jingle Jangle Jingle,” while even wearing a cowboy outfit. In middle school and high school, Jerry realized he wanted to be a great baseball shortstop. All his dreams of becoming a shortstop changed in sixth grade when he wrote a poem about a local football game and it got published. He finally decided that his destiny would be to be a writer (Spinelli, Bio). Jerry Spinelli is a writer who has had many experiences that have shaped him into the writer he is today. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Jerry grew up in Norristown, Pennsylvania with dreams of growing up to become a standout major league shortstop. (“Jerry Spinelli”). Of his hometown, Jerry made this comment: “I thought I just grew up in Norristown, Pennsylvania. Looking back now, I can see that I was continually collecting material that would one day end up in my books. (Siedman, David) His childhood was filled with playing in alleys and junkyards, but above all, playing sports whenever he could. His father took Jerry to all the high school sporting events and was a collector of football tickets and a basketball scorekeeper (Spinelli, Knots). You might say it was inevitable that Jerry would fall in love with the sport. He has many accomplishments that he is proud of, but his proudest of all was when he won the 50-yard dash in middle school when he was 12 years old. It was “the only official race I ever ran in” (Spinelli, Internet), (Spinelli, Knots). During his middle school years, he joined a little league baseball team. The first year he played, he was the worst player on the team. The following year he made the All-Star Team in his dream position: shortstop. His team won the championship and everyone received championship jackets. The jackets were nice, but Jerry wanted something to show for his accomplishments. To his relief, a week later they were awarded trophies (Spinelli, Knots). Jerry said this of his many sports experiences: “I think some of those [sports experiences] I just used in my books.” In one of his most notable books, Maniac Magee, the main character "Maniac" Magee is known for his uncanny ability to hit home runs thrown faster by the strongest pitcher (Seidman, David, 12). Many of his other books revolve around sports and there is rarely one of his books that does not contain at least some mention of playing sports. Jerry's love of sports inspired him to write a poem about one of his hometown football games. They were playing one of the best teams in the state and they won the game! The enthusiasm led him to write his first poem, "Goal to Go" ("Jerry Spinelli"). From that moment on he wanted to be a writer. In school, Jerry's best subject, not surprisingly, was English (Seidman, David, 17). Jerry made a big leap from middle school to high school. As mentioned above, his favorite subject was English, but Jerry said this about math: “While I was a whiz at algebra in sixth grade, geometry in seventh grade made me.