Remembering Ellen

It's been just about a year since the world lost a truly lovely person and a very talented writer and illustrator–– and I lost a dear friend and mentor.

I met Ellen Weiss Goldstrom in 1999 when I started taking her illustration classes at the Marblehead Arts Association.  Our class met for several years, eventually moving to her dining room table, where we sat sipping coffee and nibbling whatever delicious muffins she decided to bake for us that day.  She came up with the most wonderful assignments that challenged us, made us grow, and stretched our imaginations.  When I look through my portfolio I realize that almost everything in it is from her class.  We were inspired by her, and she got results!

Almost everything I know about picture books I learned from Ellen.  A graduate of Rhode Island School of Design, she was the illustrator of about twenty-four books, and she wrote several of them as well.  She collaborated with her mother, a teacher, on one of her classics,  My Teacher Sleeps in School.

Another favorite that is still in print is So Many Cats.  You can see that her style is pure and delightful.  (These books were done back in the days when illustrators had the tedious task of doing color separation.)

Ellen lost her long, courageous battle with breast cancer, but she left behind a wonderful legacy.  Her talent was incredible.  Her courage was an inspiration.  Her heart was huge. The last time I saw her, just a few days before she died, she was full of questions about me.  She was always interested and made you feel like you were the most important thing in the world to her at that moment.

I wish we could still sit at her dining room table and chat about art and children's books and life.

I miss you, Ellen...

Squeak of the Week

"If we, citizens, do not support our artists, then we sacrifice our imagination on the altar of crude reality and we end up believing in nothing and having worthless dreams."

From Yann Martel's Author's Note (p. xi) in his amazing,

 beautifully written book Life of Pi.

Artists and Authors Night

I spent a wonderful evening a couple of weeks ago at the Hawthorne Hotel in Salem-- one of my favorite places.  It's a venerable old hotel which exudes both warmth and elegance.

Lobby of the Hawthorne Hotel, Salem, MA.

The occasion was their second annual Artists and Authors Night, and my writers' group had a table there.  I was able to display Angus MacMouse Brings Down the House, and I sold quite a few copies.  Our North Shore Writers' Group also sold copies of our collected short stories, Ghost Writers, and A Reader's Potluck.  Ghost Writers has sold very well in Salem, for obvious reasons!

Alan and Susan selling our books. 

It was a great opportunity to meet many other local artists and writers.  There was wonderful live music and great food from the hotel's Tavern.

Like so many of Salem's literary and artistic endeavors, this one just gets better every year.