--- description: The author behind Lemony Snicket is making good on an apology title: Daniel Handler Helps Raise Thousands After Racist "Watermelon" Remark image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt41db77b796faeb59/69876a72e20a875c9aa838a9/459262470.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Books](/tag/books/) ## Books Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Children's Author Helps Raise Thousands After Racist Remark by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 22, 2014 5:57 PM CUT  Daniel Handler at the 2014 National Book Awards on Nov. 19, 2014 in New York. Daniel Handler at the 2014 National Book Awards on Nov. 19, 2014 in New York.Robin Marchant—Getty Images by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 22, 2014 5:57 PM CUT Daniel Handler, also known as the children’s author Lemony Snicket of _A Series of Unfortunate Events_ fame, added a financial pledge to his apology for making a “watermelon joke” about a black author at the National Book Awards. The author apologized Wednesday for telling a racially-charged anecdote at the National Book Awards while presenting the award for Young People’s Literature to Jacqueline Woodson the previous day. At the event, he said, Handler was widely criticized for blemishing the award with the racist crack, but he promptly apologized on Twitter the following day. And on Thursday, he announced he was pledging $10,000 to an online fund to diversify children’s literature, and would match contributors’ money for 24 hours up to $100,000. > [](https://twitter.com/DanielHandler/status/535772077354397696) > [](https://twitter.com/DanielHandler/status/535772326940655616) > [](https://twitter.com/DanielHandler/status/535772601906634753) The campaign on Indiegogo, which has been running since October 23, has raised a total of $165,669 as of Saturday. Observers on Twitter praised Handler’s follow-up to his remarks, according to tweets culled by the Washington _Post_. > [](https://twitter.com/tehawesomersace/status/535779928013565954) > [](https://twitter.com/tnwhiskeywoman/status/535803368086978561) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3601099/daniel-handler-lemony-snicket-racist-remark/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3601099/daniel-handler-lemony-snicket-racist-remark/"},"headline":"Children's Author Helps Raise Thousands After Racist Remark","datePublished":"2014-11-22T17:57:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:18:07.895Z","description":"The man behind Lemony Snicket is making good on an apology","url":"https://time.com/3601099/daniel-handler-lemony-snicket-racist-remark/","keywords":["Books"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt41db77b796faeb59/69876a72e20a875c9aa838a9/459262470.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt41db77b796faeb59/69876a72e20a875c9aa838a9/459262470.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Daniel Handler 2014 National Book Awards","caption":"Daniel Handler 2014 National Book Awards","creditText":"Robin Marchant—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3601099/daniel-handler-lemony-snicket-racist-remark/","name":"Children's Author Helps Raise Thousands After Racist Remark"}}]}] ```