Ramona just one of Beverly Cleary’s notable characters By Nara Schoenberg, Chicago Tribune Published: April 1, 2021, 6:07am Share: 2 Photos Beverly Cleary signs books in 1998 at the Monterey Bay Book Festival in Monterey, Calif. The beloved children's author, whose characters Ramona Quimby and Henry Huggins enthralled generations of youngsters, died last week. She was 104. (Vern Fisher/The Monterey County Herald) Photo Gallery When I first met Ramona Quimby, she was only 4 years old and already showing signs of greatness. This was a kid who could secretly summon 15 friends to her house without her mother suspecting a thing – at least until the children started arriving on the doorstep, expecting a party. Ramona could ruin two birthday cakes in a single day, turn the entire house upside down with only a box of apples, and make herself the center of attention anywhere, any time – with or without the paper Easter bunny ears she would proudly don for, say, a trip to the library.