Gootman, Marilyn E. 1944-

Personal

Born 1944; married; husband's name Elliot (a math professor); children: Elissa, Jennifer, Michael. Education: Simmons College, B.A., 1967; Brandeis University, M.A., 1969; Ph.D. (education), 1976.

Addresses

Home and office—Athens, GA.

Career

Author. Gootman Education Associates, founder; worked previously as an elementary school teacher; University of Georgia, former instructor in department of elementary education.

Writings

(With Pamela Espeland) When a Friend Dies: A Book for Teens about Grieving and Healing, Free Spirit (Minneapolis, MN), 1994, revised and updated edition, 2005.

The Loving Parents' Guide to Discipline: How to Teach Your Child to Behave, with Kindness, Understanding, and Respect, Berkley Books (New York, NY), 1995, new edition, 2000.

The Caring Teacher's Guide to Discipline: Helping Young Students Learn Self-Control, Responsibility, and Respect, Corwin Press (Thousand Oaks, CA), 1997, new edition, 2005.

Contributor of articles to Atlanta Journal Constitution, Humanist, and Redbook; author of pamphlets for National Committee for the Prevention of Child Abuse.

Sidelights

Marilyn E. Gootman is the founder of Gootman Education Associates, a consulting company that provides educational strategies for teachers and parents. With a career history in education, Gootman has penned several instructive titles that help teachers and parents to solve disciplinary issues with their students and children. She has also written a guide geared toward young adults titled When a Friend Dies: A Book for Teens about Grieving and Healing. Gootman wrote the guide when her teenaged daughter lost a close friend. To help the teen cope with her grief, Gootman tried to find a book on the subject that was written specifically for teens. Having difficulty finding such a book, she was inspired to write her own guide for young-adult readers working through the grieving process.

When a Friend Dies includes quotes from teenagers who have experienced the loss of a friend; it also includes comments from well-known writers and philosophers that relate to the grieving process. The book concludes with a list of resources and readings that can also assist teens. Kliatt reviewer Olivia Durant, in her assessment of When a Friend Dies, acknowledged the author for creating a straightforward text, commenting that "Gootman speaks in clear, reassuring language to teens." Durant concluded that the book "does not talk down" to teenaged readers, and an NEA Today critic deemed Gootman's guide a "non-preachy and compassionate book" that effectively handles a sensitive subject. Maryann H. Owen, reviewing When a Friend Dies for School Library Journal, regarded Gootman's book as a "compassionate, user-friendly" guide for teens and suggested that the list of suggested resources and readings compiled by Gootman "be made available to teens."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 15, 1995, Kathryn Carpenter, review of The Loving Parents' Guide to Discipline: How to Teach Your Child to Behave, with Kindness, Understanding, and Respect, p. 1045.

Kliatt, January, 2006, Olivia Durant, review of When a Friend Dies: A Book for Teens about Grieving and Healing, p. 29.

NEA Today, October, 2005, review of When a Friend Dies, p. 57.

School Library Journal, October, 2005, Maryann H. Owen, review of When a Friend Dies, p. 188.

Voice of Youth Advocates, August, 1994, review of When a Friend Dies, p. 166.

ONLINE

Corwin Press Web site,http://www.corwinpress.com/ (May 19, 2007), "Marilyn E. Gootman."

University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education Web site,http://www.georgiacenter.uga.edu/ (May 19, 2007), "Faculty Spotlight: Marilyn E. Gootman, Department of Elementary Education."