The document provides biographical information about S.E. Hinton and discusses her novel The Outsiders. It details how Hinton was inspired to write the novel as a teenager based on gang violence she witnessed in her high school. The Outsiders was an immediate success and became the best-selling young adult novel of all time, selling over 14 million copies. Hinton went on to write several other successful novels and is considered "The Voice of Youth" for her realistic portrayals of teenage life.

2. “ The Voice of Youth” S. E. Hintons’ career as an author began while she was still a student at Will Rogers High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Disturbed by the clashes of the two gangs in her high school, the Greasers and the Socs, Hinton wrote The Outsiders , an honest, sometimes shocking novel told from the point of view of a 14-year-old Greaser named Ponyboy Curtis. The Outsiders was published during Hinton’s freshman year at the University of Tulsa, and was an immediate sensation. Today, with more than fourteen million copies in print, the book is the best-selling young adult novel of all time. The book was also made into a film in 1983, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and featuring budding young stars, Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon, and Rob Lowe.

3. “ The Voice of Youth” Hinton has stated that the reason she wrote The Outsiders was so that she could deal with gang violence in her high school. “ One day, a friend of mine was walking home from school and these "nice" kids jumped out of a car and beat him up because they didn't like him being a greaser. This made me mad and I just went home and started pounding out a story about this boy who was beaten up while he was walking home from the movies-the beginning of The Outsiders. It was just something to let off steam. I didn't have any grand design. I just sat down and started writing it. I look back and think it was totally written in my subconscious or something. One of my reasons for writing it was that I wanted something realistic to be written about teenagers. At that time realistic teenage fiction didn't exist. If you didn't want to read Mary Jane Goes to The Prom and you were through with horse books, there was nothing to read. I just wanted to write something that dealt with what I saw kids really doing.”

4. “ The Voice of Youth” The Ousiders brought with it publicity and fame. S. E. Hinton became known as “The Voice of the Youth.” This overnight success also brought a lot of pressure, resulting in a three-year-long writer’s block. Her boyfriend (now husband) eventually helped break this block by suggesting she write two pages a day before going anywhere. This ultimately led to her second novel, That Was Then, This is Now , which was also made into a film in 1985, starring Emilio Estevez. Ms. Hinton went on to write several other novels, including Rumble Fish and Tex . In 1988, she was awarded the first annual Margaret A. Edwards Award, given in honor of “an author whose book or books, over a period of time, have been accepted by young adults as an authentic voice that continues to illuminate their experiences and emotions, giving insight into their lives.” S. E. Hinton still lives in Oklahoma with her husband, where she enjoys writing, riding horses, and taking courses at the university.

5. Dear Reader, It is very difficult for me to write about myself, and especially The Outsiders , which was written at a horrendous time in my life, was published by a series of mind-boggling synchronicities, and has gone further than any author dared dream. But I’ll give it a shot. I wrote The Outsiders when I was sixteen years old. Actually I began it when I was fifteen, as a short story about a boy who as beaten up on his way home from the movies. But I didn’t just write The Outsiders , I lived it. Looking back, I realize how important it was to me to have another life at that time. To be someone else. To deal with the problems I had to face, and write my way to some sort of understanding and coping. This is all in hindsight. At the time, I was mad about the social situation in my high school. I desperately wanted something to read that dealt realistically with teen-age life. The letters saying “I loved the book” are good, the ones that say “I never liked to read before, and now I read all them” are better, but the ones that say “ The Outsiders changed my life” and “I read it fifteen years ago and I realize how much it has influenced my life choices” frankly scare me. Who am I to change anyone’s life? I guess the best reply is “It’s the book, not the author” and “It’s the message, not the messenger.” A lot of the time I feel that The Outsiders was meant to be written, and I was chosen to write it. It’s certainly done more good than anything I could accomplish on a personal level. If this sounds like I am overwhelmed by the decades of incredible response to what began as a short story I started when I was fifteen years old, well, I guess that’s the truth. Stay Gold. S.E. Hinton Taken from the Author’s Foreword in The Outsiders Speak Platinum Edition, published by Penguin Group (1995)

6. Setting Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1965/1966 The gas stations, dreary streets and housing of the “poor side of town” that the Greaser’s call home. The manicured lawns of upper middle class suburbia where the Socs live. The theaters drive-ins and burger joints that are common ground. The high school both neighborhoods attend. The United States coming out of the innocence of the “50s” into a time of great social and political change.

7. The Lesson Nothing Gold Can Stay Nature's first green is gold, Her hardest hire to hold. Her early leafs a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief; So down goes down today. Nothing gold can stay . by Robert Frost

8. While the Socs live carefree lives of privilege, the Greasers all come from hard-knock backgrounds. They like to listen to the music of Elvis Presley and Chet Atkins. Their attire usually consists of tight fitting t-shirts, leather jackets, and snug jeans. They smoke, they drink, and they work at low paying jobs. Many Greasers are engaged in criminal activities, which causes many people to incorrectly assume that all Greasers are juvenile delinquents (JDs). Ponyboy Curtis Sodapop Curtis Darry Curtis Johnny Cade Dally Winston Two-Bit Mathews Steve Randle The Greasers: Middle to lower middle class families Outlaws, “bad boys,” tough attitudes Gang members (some criminal, mostly social) Emotional, quick to show anger Slicked back, long hair Leather jackets, white t-shirts Drive beat-up cars

9. Greasers

10. Middle to upper middle class The “good, cool, popular” kids Role models, athletes, class presidents Hang in cliques, not “gangs” More self-contained and cool, not as quick to show out-of-control anger Khakis, madras and polo shirts Clean cut – hair cut (above the collar) Nice cars The Socs, (pronounced "soashes", as in "social"), are spoiled kids from well-to-do rich families. They have no reservations about "jumping" Greasers without provocation. They listen to the Beatles and wear madras shirts. Cherry Valance Bob Gardner Randy Matthews Marcia The Socs

11. The Socs

12. Soc’s ‘ 63 Red Corvair Socs’ ‘65 Ford Mustang Convertible

13. Socs & Greasers (Photos from the movie, American Graffiti )

14. The Times

15. Memorable Personalities President John F. Kenney Assassinated 1963 Robert F. Kennedy Assassinated 1968

16. Memorable Personalities President Johnson (L.B.J.) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

17. "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." The Apollo 11 crew from left to right: Neil Armstrong, Commander; Michael Collins, command module pilot; and , Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot. On July 16, 1969, the Apollo 11 launched from the Kennedy Space Center. On July 20, 1969, Commander Neil Armstrong became the first man on the moon.

18. General W. Westmoreland, Commander of U.S. Forces in Vietnam 1965 (Painting- Byrd Archives) Lt. Rick Rescorla 7 th air Cav. Ia Drang Valley, Vietnam 1965, leads his men in a bayonet charge against the NVA. [Photo Peter Arnett] (Died 9/11/21 in the WTC, tower #2)

19. Neil A. Armstrong David R. Scott, crew of Gemini VIII

20. Teen Music Trends Elvis Presley The Beach Boys

21. New Trends in Music: The Beatles (1965)

22. T.V. 1966 Americas Top 20 TV Favorites in 1966

23. Stars and Idols Paul Newman In The Hustler (1963)

24. Steve Mc Queen in The Great Escape (1963)

25. Sean Connery and Ursela Andres James Bond comes to the screen.

26. Political Tension at Home and Abroad LaDrang Valley ,Vietnam 1965, The fighting heats up. March from Selma, Alabama 1965 Civil Rights March.

27. Vietnam (U.S. A. F. Museum) LZ XRAY, 1966 (Courtesy of the U.S. Army) L.B.J decides to increase our role/mission in Vietnam.

28. The 1 st (Air) Cav. Div., 7 th Cav. At Ia Drang, 1965 (U.S. Army Photo) 67th TFS pilots Da Nang in 1965.(U.S. Air Force)

29. Raquel Welch with the Bob Hope Show at Da Nang, 1968 U.S.M.C. Gunner, Near the DMZ 1967 1 st . Cav. Moves through the Ira Drang Valley, 1966

30. The Civil Rights Movement Gains Momentum An attempt to register black voters leads to “Bloody Sunday” at Selma, Alabama

31. Civil Rights Leaders 1965 Police confront civil rights marchers in Alabama, 1965 The "Greensboro Four" (1960) waiting to be served at Woolworth's

32. Hippies

34. “ Stay gold Ponyboy…!” Johnny Cade