Why did Natalie Babbitt write Tuck Everlasting?

There are many different accounts claiming the inspiration for Tuck Everlasting, but Babbitt herself says she began the story one Sunday at tea time with her father, when he said, "Do you realize that if people could live forever, they would eventually become extremely lonely?" At the time, she was only thinking of writing short stories, but after considering her father's idea, she decided to expand it into a novel.

Her novel was published in 1975 and received the Newbery Medal for children's literature in 1976, in the wake of the American Bicentennial. She was surprised to have written the novel at all and attributed its success to "dumb luck."