The Man Who Loved Clowns

June Rae Wood is a bestselling author of books for young readers. Her best-known novel, The Man Who Loved Clowns (1992), about a man with Down syndrome, was partly based on her much-loved younger brother, Richard, and has done much to further understanding of people with Down syndrome. The book was awarded the 1995 Mark Twain Award in Missouri and the 1995 William Allen White Award in Kansas. Ms. Wood is the 1999 recipient of the Edgar Wolfe Literary Award presented by the Friends of the Library in Kansas City, Kansas.