Tasha Tudor passed away at age 92; here is the New York Times link, and the one at the LA Times. Her illustrations were in the books I read as a kid. I cannot look at any other edition of A Child's Garden of Verses without thinking first, those pictures are not right.
In reading her obituaries, I'm becoming intrigued with the woman herself.* But there are things that hint at some (to me) interesting things, and I want to read more about her.**
I am most fascinated not by her "simple" life but by the "living in the past" aspect. Having just done some dental work where the entire time I thought, "thank you, God, for having me be born in a time when this can be done without pain and without losing the tooth," and never having liked outhouses while camping, as much as I like different past periods in time I've never wanted to actually recreate them or live in them.
Yet this quote about her work -- "I’m a commercial artist, and I’ve done my books because I needed to earn my living" -- tells me she didn't overly romanticize things. It's common sense; it's not saying, oohh, if you're an artist it is the art, etc.
Anyway, I am now intrigued by her life and by her lifestyle. And have more books on my TBR pile. And sadly know I can never have a simple lifestyle myself, as I'll always need to have enough rooms for all my books, and enough money for books and bookshelves.
*Yeah, I know, being too nosey about a person's life, etc. etc.
** Add it to my long list of post-Printz reading.
3 comments:
If you can, find a copy of "Take Joy" to watch. My Children's Lit prof in library school showed it to us. You'll get a nice glimpse of her everyday life.
I grew up on her too, as my mother adores her books. I'd love to learn more about her life. What are you reading about her?
She wrote (or authorized) a couple of books about her life during the 90s--The Private World of Tasha Tudor, Tasha Tudor's Garden, etc. They're romantisized, but they quote her liberally, and include lots of pictures. There are a couple of biographies out, including one from 1979, by her daughter, called Drawn From New England. It's not as sappy as you would think, for a child-written biography.
--Sarah
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