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Wendy Cooling Obituaries & Appreciations

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wendycooling

Wendy with Helen [Dunning] at the Puffin Summer Party 2007

Here is a selection of obituaries and appreciations of Wendy Cooling, whose death I was shocked to discover on opening the obituaries page in yesterday’s Times. The earlier Guardian obituary had passed me by and somehow or other the vagaries of the Twitter algorithm must have hidden all comment about her passing from my feed. The selection will be added to as and when I become aware of more.

I am very sorry for being so late in posting this news. My reaction was similar to that of Camilla Reid, writing on the Nosy Crow blog (see the link below):

I almost felt that it was impossible for Wendy to actually die. This is bonkers, obviously, but anyone who ever met her cannot have failed to notice in Wendy a vitality, a force of positive energy that is rare to encounter and would fool you into thinking it would go on forever.

She must have been at practically every children’s publishing event I ever attended in London. If she wasn’t, it would mean she was on one of her regular travelling expeditions, and if she was, you could bet that conversation would be as likely to be about her latest adventures in India, as it would about children’s books.

She will be greatly missed.

Death Of Richard Jackson, Judy Blume Editor

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The death of, Richard Jackson, a significant children’s books editor and champion of Young Adult themes has been announced:

Richard Jackson, an editor who published books by Judy Blume, Paula Fox, Virginia Hamilton and other award-winning authors that broadened the scope of children’s literature, then late in life became a children’s author himself, died on Oct. 2 in Towson, Md. He was 84.

…His work as an editor beginning in the 1960s that changed the landscape of literature for young people. At a time when many people still thought of Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys mysteries as the height of sophistication for young readers, he published authors who wrote about bullying, race, sexuality, adolescent angst of all kinds.

He often found himself defending the books he published against complaints from librarians, school boards and parents who deemed them too strong. 

Of publishing Judy Blume, Jackson said, “I felt her voice was so extraordinarily pure, I just couldn’t worry that we were going to raise hackles… There’s always someone to be offended. But it was never to raise hackles that we published her. It was the voice, and the absence of adult regret, instruction or nostalgia in those novels. She turns them over to the kids, over to the characters.”

More >>> https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/13/books/richard-jackson-dead.html
Updated full-length obit. >>> https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/13/books/richard-jackson-dead.html?smid=tw-nytobits&smtyp=cur

Richard Wilbur, Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Winner, Dies at 96

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Richard Wilbur, whose meticulous, urbane poems earned him two Pulitzer Prizes and selection as the national poet laureate, died on Saturday in Belmont, Mass. He was 96.

Wilbur’s poems have been reguarly included in children’s anthologies and on a few occasions – for example, The Spig In The Spigot – he published with a young audience directly in mind.

via Richard Wilbur, Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Winner, Dies at 96 – The New York Times.

See also:
Guardian Obituary

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Babette Cole 1950-2017 – a tribute by Sarah McIntyre

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Like Sarah McIntyre I spent yesterday hoping that the lack of confirmation on either the BBC or the Guardian might mean that the reports of Babette Cole’s death amounted to fake news. She has been such a considerable figure in the world of children’s books it seemed strange that news sites were not picking up on the unexpected event. The single news report I found was on itv.com and the only sources quoted were two tweets.

When I explored Facebook I discovered that the news had begun spreading at the very start of the day and emanated from her West country friends in the horse community. It was still theoretically possible, as Sarah McIntyre says, and especially given Babette’s character, that the story was being spread to see how easily people could be taken in. 

There is still, as far as I can see (as 09:45 this morning) no mention of her death on either the Guardian news site or the BBC, which seems odd, although her Wikipedia page has been updated with the date of death.

ACHUKA will link to the formal obituaries as soon as they begin appearing.

http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/767883.html

Award-winning author Paul Goble dead at 83

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Paul Goble, arguably South Dakota’s most celebrated children’s author and illustrator, died Thursday morning at his home on Ninth Street. He was 83.

Goble, who won the prestigious Caldecott Medal in 1979 for his book “The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses,” was a multi-faceted artist, writer and naturalist who first visited the American West in 1959. Infatuated with the Black Hills’ landscape, birds, free-roaming wildlife and Native American lore, Goble moved permanently to the Black Hills in 1977.

via Award-winning author Paul Goble dead at 83 | Local | rapidcityjournal.com.

Brian Wildsmith dies

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bookseller

Brian Wildsmith, children’s author and illustrator, has died aged 86.

Wildsmith died last Wednesday (31st August) in Grasse, France.

He was born on 22nd January 1930 and raised in a small mining village near Sheffield. He won a scholarship to the Slade School of Fine Art, London where he studied for three years. He later taught maths at the Royal Military School of Music but gave it up so that he could pursue his passion for painting.

Wildsmith began working with Oxford University Press in the late 1950s when children’s publisher, Mabel George, commissioned him to illustrate 12 colour plates for Tales from the Arabian Nights. This was followed by ABC, published in 1961, which won the Kate Greenaway Medal.

via Children's author Brian Wildsmith dies | The Bookseller.

Mad Magazine And EC Comics Artist Jack Davis Dies At 91

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Revered cartoonist Jack Davis [has died] at the age of 91.

Davis’s art career spanned several mediums, from comics, to movie posters, to advertising. One of his first jobs was drawing a Coco-Cola training manual in 1949.

…

In 1952, Davis went on to become one of the founding artists of Harvey Kurtzman’s Mad Magazine. He worked on the first 30 issues Mad Magazine, as well as Panic, Cracked, Trump, Humbug, and Help!

…

Davis has been recognized as one of the greats of the comics industry. He received the National Cartoonists Society’s Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996 and received their Reuben Award in 2000. In 2003, he was inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame.

full piece via Mad Magazine And EC Comics Artist Jack Davis Dies At 91.

Tributes paid to Robert Dunbar, champion of children’s literature

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irishtimes

Robert Dunbar, the critic and editor who for decades championed Irish children’s literature, died early yesterday after a long illness. He was 76.
As well as reviewing children’s fiction for The Irish Times for more than 27 years, he was a founder member of the Children’s Literature Association of Ireland, which merged with the Irish Children’s Book Trust to become Children’s Books Ireland. He was a lecturer in English and children’s literature, presented a weekly radio programme on children’s books and edited two anthologies, Enchanted Journeys: Fifty Years of Irish Writing for Children and Skimming, both publishedby O’Brien Press. He also edited Inis magazine, was a Bisto Book of the Year Awards judge and received a CBI Lifetime Achievement Award.
Jenny Murray, acting director of Children’s Books Ireland, said: “It is with great sadness that Children’s Books Ireland acknowledges the passing of our friend, patron and children’s books champion, the irreplaceable Robert Dunbar. Robert was knowledgeable about many things, very wise and very, very funny – and of course enormously well-read. He was a pioneer in the study of children’s books in Ireland and to most people, he simply was children’s literature in Ireland.”

…

Patrick Ness, bestselling author of A Monster Calls, said: “I’m sure this will only echo everyone else’s words about the glorious Robert Dunbar. The warmth of him, the curiosity, the sheer interest! He was right there at the very, very start of my career, reviewing the books with such brilliant emotional intelligence and sympathy. At the launch of A Monster Calls in Ireland, he gave it a completely unexpected speech that took my breath away, not only just about the book, but about what he believed (a belief I share) that books for young readers could accomplish: making the world larger, safer, better. I’ll miss him terribly.”

The Irish Times followed this up with a special tribute page / obituary headed, The Father Christmas of Children’s Books:
http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/robert-dunbar-the-father-christmas-of-irish-children-s-literature-1.2730874

via Tributes paid to Robert Dunbar, champion of children’s literature.

Lois Duncan, young-adult fiction writer, dies aged 82

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la times

Lois Duncan, a prolific writer of suspense novels for young adults who also chronicled her decades-long inquiry into the unsolved homicide of her own daughter, has died. She was 82.Albuquerque-based private investigator Pat Caristo said Thursday that Duncan had died at her home near Sarasota, Fla. Duncan’s husband announced on Facebook that she had collapsed in their kitchen on Wednesday.Duncan was best known for suspense novels for young adult readers as well as children’s books that were among nearly 50 published titles. Her thriller "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and kids adventure "Hotel for Dogs" were turned into movies.

via Lois Duncan, young-adult fiction writer, dies at 82 – LA Times.