Chris Crutcher Biography

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Chris Crutcher Biography

Chris Crutcher was born on July 17, 1946 in Dayton, Ohio. His father was an Air Force pilot and his mother was a homemaker. Chris grew up in Cascade, Idaho. As a child there was not much for kids to do in Idaho, a tiny logging community north of Boise, so many children turned to sports. Chris got his education from Eastern Washington State College in 1968. His hobbies were running , basketball, swimming, biking, and competing in triathlon. Chris has an older brother who was valedictorian of his class. Chris had a lot of pressure , so his goal was to be a perfect C student. He explained, "If I could have done it exactly right I would never have gotten any other grade than a C, but I would screw up and get a D and then I'd need a B to counter balance" (Collier 86). Chris loved sports. He didn't become very good at basketball until after the 12th grade. He was a bench warmer. In track he was somewhere in the middle. Football was his best sport, only because it required less athleticism. Chris said, "finding out how far you can push yourself if you have the support of your friends, that's very important to me about sports" (Collier 86). Chris now lives in Spokane, WA. He is a writer, therapist, teacher, and child advocacy worker. He received his teaching certificate in 1970. He taught at Kennewick Dropout, Lakeside, and Oakland, CA school from 1973-1976. He was a director from 1976-1980 of a Community Mental Health Center in Spokane, WA, a child protection team specialist from 1980-1982, a child and family mental health professional from 1982-1995, and a full time writer from 1995 and it still writing today. Most of Crutcher's books took place in the Northwest.

Crutcher got along with his parents so well that he dedicated Running Loose to them and

included them as characters. Crutcher said, "they've been a real influence on my life," he told Idaho statesman. "They let me go. It's real important to have been allowed not to carry around your parents garbage. I knew I could take off and go hitch hiking around the country and I wouldn't lose my mom and dad. " My mom gave me a sense of passion, of doing things that weren't necessarily rational, of going with my feelings.

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