Judy Blume admits she was in a high school glee club that excluded black people and has felt guilty about it for 40 years

The author made the public admission at BookCon in New York and apologised to classmates at a reunion

Bestseller: Judy Blume

Judy Blume, the renowned children's author whose books have been celebrated for helping millions of young adults address racism, menstruation, bullying and teenage sex, has confessed to fighting a personal battle from her own teenage years that took four decades to overcome.

Speaking at an event to promote her latest novel, In The Unlikely Event, the 77-year-old told her audience that she had been part of an “advanced” high school glee club in New Jersey that excluded black children.

Blume was interviewed on stage by fellow author Jennifer Weiner at BookCon, the fan-based gathering held in New York, when she made the admission.

She said she had apologised to her fellow classmates at a 40th anniversary high school reunion, and remembers saying that “I felt guilty for all these years” about not speaking out at the time.

Blume explained she had mentioned the glee club while writing her new novel, which is inspired by three plane crashes that happened in Elizabeth, New Jersey, between 1951 and 19522, which is where she is from.

Blume added that the glee club was removed from the story as it didn’t fit the narrative.

Additional reporting by AP