Judy Blume & George Cooper

Judy Blume is one of America’s most beloved authors and one of its most vigilant and committed anti-censorship activists. She has been a funny and knowing voice for children and adolescents for nearly five decades. Blume’s books have sold more than 85 million copies in 32 languages. She works with National Coalition Against Censorship to support teachers and librarians committed to keeping all books accessible.

George Cooper, a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Harvard Law School and member of the Law Review, was a professor of Taxation and Civil Rights Law at Columbia University for 20 years. Active in civil rights policy and litigation in the 1960s and 1970s, and editor of textbooks on Equal Employment and Poverty Law, he spent 1979 in South Africa where he helped establish the Legal Resources Centre, an anti-apartheid legal aid program. Also a successful writer, Cooper focused on historic true crime.

Closer to home, Blume and Cooper are at the center of philanthropic life in Key West. Cooper, an independent film enthusiast, was the driving force behind the development of the nonprofit Tropic Cinema which Florida Monthly has named “Best Florida Cinema.”

Blume’s passion for books led her to become a board member of Key West Literary Seminar, a nonprofit organization that supports young writers, librarians and teachers. In 2016, she and Cooper opened Books & Books @ The Studios, a full service, nonprofit bookstore in an Old Town arts complex. Enhancing Key West’s rich literary heritage, Books & Books hosts readings, promotes local authors and encourages children to love reading. Blume and Cooper can be found most days working at the bustling bookstore.