RIP Tasha Tudor (1915-2008 )
Children’s book illustrator and author Tasha Tudor, “whose delicate and dreamy artwork was featured in about 80 books, including a 1944 edition of Mother Goose that was so successful it enabled her to buy a farm and create a lifestyle rooted in the early 19th century,” has died at age 92 of complications related to old age. She was runner-up for the Caldecott Medal twice, for Mother Goose and for 1 is One (1957).
Her “sentimental yet realistic illustrations of quaint New England settings” reflect her favourite time period, the 1830s. Her obituary notes: “She grew most of what she ate, kept a menagerie of animals, and spun and wove flax into fabrics. Her main concessions to modern convenience were a telephone and a car. In the early 1990s, Tudor announced that she was quitting public appearances, partly because it was hard to find someone who could watch the house and knew how to milk a goat. Unconventionality was a hallmark of her life.”
Her website. NYT obit. Her Legacy page.
Filed under: children's books, obituaries, illustration on June 20th, 2008