Four years ago I posted a short biographical sketch of William Steig, the author-illustrator loved for his fine children’s books like the Caldecott Award winning Sylvester and the Magic Pebble and (more well-known now, I’d think) Shrek! Recently Letters of Note posted a copy of a letter Steig wrote that describes his fear of public speaking. Caldecott winners, you see, were expected to give a short acceptance speech, and William Steig had an extreme fear of “formally [addressing] a group of people larger than two in number,” which, he says, “for me will be like walking on red hot embers & broken glass.”
Despite his fear, Steig managed to give a charming acceptance speech. You’ll find the text of that at the link above, too.