Michael McCurdy
Michael McCurdy | |
---|---|
New York City, New York, U.S. | |
Died | May 28, 2016 , U.S. | (aged 74)
Known for | Illustrator, author |
Spouse | Deborath Lamb |
Children | 2 |
Michael McCurdy (February 17, 1942 – May 28, 2016) was an American
Biography
Michael McCurdy was born in New York City in 1942 and grew up in New Rochelle, New York and Marblehead, Massachusetts. As a young boy, he was inspired by illustrator Lynd Ward, writing him a fan letter in his teen years that evolved into a lifelong friendship and collaboration. He also developed an interest in hand-printing, thanks to a toy printing press that he received as a present at the age of twelve.
From 1960 to 1966, McCurdy attended the
A
In the following years, the couple raised their two children in Lincoln and Great Barrington, Massachusetts. After retiring, McCurdy and his wife lived in Springfield, Massachusetts. He died on 28 May 2016 at the age of 74.[2]
Penmaen Press
McCurdy founded Penmaen Press in Boston, Massachusetts in 1968 and continued production in Lincoln and Great Barrington. Penmaen Press published many high quality literary works, including first-edition
Penmaen Press also produced broadsides of poems by May Sarton, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Allen Ginsberg. A limited edition broadside of “Moloch” (taken from Allen Ginsburg’s poem Howl) was illustrated by Lynd Ward in 1978.
In 1984, McCurdy and Robert Hauser formed a partnership to produce Face to Face: Twelve Contemporary American Artists Interpret Themselves in a Limited Edition of Original Wood Engravings. Engravers who submitted self-portraits for this were McCurdy, Fred Becker, Jack Coughlin, John DePol, Fritz Eichenberg, Raymond Gloeckler, James Grashow, Judith Jaidinger, Stefan Martin, Barry Moser, Gillian Tyler, and Herbert Waters.
Penmaen Press was discontinued in 1985, as McCurdy devoted himself increasingly to writing and illustrating trade books, as well as limited editions for other publishers.
Works
Throughout his career, McCurdy illustrated books,
McCurdy also authored numerous books, including Toward the Light (a collection of his wood engravings with accompanying anecdotes, published in Canada), The Illustrated Harvard: Harvard University in Wood Engravings and Words (1986), The Devils Who Learned to be Good, Hannah's Farm: The Seasons on an Early American Homestead, The Old Man and the Fiddle, Trapped by the Ice: Shackleton's Amazing Antarctic Adventure and An Algonquian Year: The Year According to the Full Moon. He edited and illustrated an abridged version of the first autobiography of Frederick Douglass, renamed Escape from Slavery: The Boyhood of Frederick Douglass in His Own Words, published in 1994.
Awards
Howard Norman's The Owl-Scatterer included McCurdy’s engravings and book design and was chosen by The New York Times as one of the Ten Best Illustrated Children's Books of 1986. Ann Whitford Paul's book The Seasons Sewn: The Year in Patchwork received the same recognition from the Times in 1996.
McCurdy’s collection of engravings, Toward the Light, was awarded the Bronze Medal in an international book exhibition in
McCurdy was elected a member of the Boston Society of Printers in 1971 and was selected as a Literary Light by the Associates of the Boston Public Library in 2002.
Giants in the Land, a children's picture book that McCurdy illustrated with black and white scratchboard, won numerous prizes.
Archives
The main archive of McCurdy's work as an author and illustrator, covering a period of 48 years, is housed in the Boston Public Library. Original work, dating from McCurdy's first wood engraving in 1962 to later work for both adults and children, is included along with correspondence with authors and publishers, initial sketches, proofs, and wood blocks.
McCurdy’s Penmaen Press archive is housed in the
References
- ^ McCurdy, Michael (2009-06-21). "Michael McCurdy". Michael McCurdy. Retrieved 2009-06-21.
- ^ Obituary: Michael McCurdy
External links
- Michael McCurdy at Library of Congress, with 61 library catalog records 1972–2010