Bill Tucker, colleague and friend

"Jennifer Buehler, Ph.D., of St. Louis, Missouri, passed away surrounded by family on August 28, 2026, at Mercy Hospital following a traffic accident while riding her bicycle. She was 56."

So begins the obituary for my dear friend Jennifer Buehler. She was a loving spouse to Mark Patrick, a proud mother of Ethan Patrick, a kind teacher of countless students preK-graduate school, and a generous friend to me for twenty-nine years. You can read the essentials of her life at https://kutisfuneralhomes.com/buehler-jennifer/ .

She was a student and colleague at the Summer Invitational Institute of Eastern Michigan University in 1997, the first year I led the Institute, which makes teachers of literacy into teachers of writing. I say this without boasting, because the Institute is the magical creation of the National Writing Project, founded to instill of love of writing in teachers preK-college (https://www.nwp.org/

Most every Writing Project teacher I know has been mentored in Young Adult Literature by Jennifer. She was a voracious reader of YA fiction and kept a running list of recommendations in her head, so she could oblige her many friends with the most recent recommendations. She would sort her list for friends, personal and professional:  She would say to me "I know you love baseball; you might want to check out . . ."

She would make you feel smarter than you were. Everything you said was enriching to her, and she let you know it. She wrote to me, "It’s such a delight to hear from you this morning, especially after reading your own excellent piece on compromise in yesterday’s paper. I read it with such satisfaction, thinking, Bill is an accomplished writer, and I am still making good on learning that began while he and I sat next to each other at the summer institute in 1997." Those kind words make me weep. They were so Jennifer.

Jennifer wrote in the Post-Dispatch about her greatest passion: the censorship of young adult literature:

Books are not harmful. Keeping them from readers is what’s harmful. The power of books lies in how people use them as tools for growth. Let’s join together to make sure every student has to look no further than the shelves of their schools and libraries to find books where they are reflected and respected. (October 8, 2025).

She was a relentless crusader for the right to read, especially for young people. She served as president of the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of NCTE (ALAN) in 2016 and was an active member of ALAN for many years. "She hosted the young adult literature podcast Text Messages for eight years, interviewing celebrated authors such as Laurie Halse Anderson, A. S. King, Walter Dean Myers, John Green, and Judy Blume" (https://ncte.org/blog/2026/09/tribute-jen-buehler/).

Jennifer was a radical champion for every book for every child and adolescent. She would be very passionate for this cause. In an e-mail to me, she responded to my question about making literature available for children on an age-appropriate basis: "On the topic of restricting book access by age level, I don't support it. Just another gatekeeper move that will prevent kids from getting the books they need." Her most fiery words were reserved for proponents of censorship:

I read with dismay the front-page story on the latest hoops libraries are being made to jump through regarding "obscene" materials. I thought the library directors who were quoted provided excellent rebuttals to Ashcroft's ridiculous state rule. I'm saving that now-annotated article so I can refer back to their words. (Personal e-mail).

Her final  work in progress is The responsibility of being Judy: Judy Blume, the fight against book bans, and the story of becoming an advocate. Without insult to Blume we could easily title the book,  Jennifer Buehler, the fight against book bans, and the story of becoming an advocate.  Jennifer would take exception, but her devoted friends would say, "Oh yes!"

I treasure Jennifer's final e-mail message to me--so personal, so kind, so confidential, so deferential:

PS as I try to find my way forward through my own writing journey with Judy, I do daily sprints. 25 minutes at a time, then a five minute break. The hope is to just get words on the page and wait for the shape to reveal itself. I knew you would understand.