Gary Tillery is an American writer and artist known for his biographies focusing on the spiritual lives of famous figures, and for his public sculptures. His 2009 book, ''The Cynical Idealist'', was named the official book of the 2010 John Lennon Tribute in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

,Quest Books
(

Theosophical Society in America The Theosophical Society in America (TSA) is a member-based nonprofit organization dedicated to the teaching of Theosophy and affiliated with the international Theosophical Society based in Adyar, Chennai, India. The name "Theosophical Society in ...

). Retrieved 2012-11-22. and he created the centerpiece sculpture of the Chicago Vietnam Veterans Memorial, dedicated in 2005.

Early life

Gary Glenn Tillery was born in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

on August 6, 1947, the son of a farmer who had brought the family west from

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

after they survived a tornado. The intensifying

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

interrupted his higher education. He joined the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

and was deployed to Tan Son Nhut Air Base, near

Saigon , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

.Chicago Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Retrieved 2021-11-18. His arrival happened to coincide with the "Mini-Tet" Offensive of May 1968, the month that proved to be the deadliest of the entire war for U.S. forces. During his first few weeks, the base came under repeated attack by 122mm rockets and mortar fire. His experiences in the war would serve as background for his book ''Darkling Plain'', an experimental novel constructed of interlinked short stories. After his military service, Tillery returned to Phoenix and attended

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

. He received a bachelor's degree in Latin American Studies in 1972, and went on to Thunderbird School of Global Management, where in 1973 he earned a master's degree in International Management. After moving to the Chicago area, he co-founded The Townsend Agency, Ltd. in 1979, and worked as an advertising executive for 17 years. Throughout his time in the business world he felt drawn to create literature and art. One of his short stories, "Dragon with a Broken Wing," was selected by Ray Bradbury to receive first prize in a contest honoring the famous native of Waukegan, Illinois. In 1996, Tillery resigned his position as chairman of The Townsend Agency to pursue his twin interests of writing and sculpture.

Writer

As a writer, his best-known work is ''The Cynical Idealist: A Spiritual Biography of John Lennon''. The book, which grew out of his 2005 article for Philosophy Now magazine, was the first to examine John Lennon as a man of ideas, exploring his impact on the world as a consequence of his spiritual growth and his self-generated humanist philosophy. Reviewer Grady Harp observed: "Without resorting to puffery or hero worship, Tillery places Lennon's accomplishments with the arts as well as with the framework of political upheaval of his day to reveal a man who will be remembered not only for his prodigious talent, but also for his influence on philosophical thinking." ''The Cynical Idealist'' was selected as the official book of the 2010 John Lennon Tribute in

, and subsequently translated into German, French, Portuguese, and Danish. Based on its success, Quest Books published Tillery's ''Working Class Mystic: A Spiritual Biography of

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

'' in 2011, and ''The Seeker King: A Spiritual Biography of Elvis Presley'' in 2013. The latter was selected as a featured book by the Patheos Book Club. His other writings include ''Darkling Plain'', inspired by his recollections of the

, ''The Roots of the Wind'', a novel drawn from his experiences on a scientific expedition to the Western Rift Valley in Africa, three comedic detective novels, three volumes of poetry, and ''Yeshua, My Beloved'', an ambitious experiment in "novelized history," being a fact-based novel about Jesus derived from the research of hundreds of Bible scholars.

Artist

In 2000, Tillery's sculpture ''They Also Serve'' was accepted by the

National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum The National Veterans Art Museum, formerly the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum, located at 4041 N. Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago's six corners neighborhood, is dedicated to displaying and studying art produced by veterans from the Vietnam War ...

for its permanent collection. As a result of his connection with the museum, he was selected to create the centerpiece sculpture in the Chicago Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Wabash Plaza, dedicated in 2005. In 2004 he created the bust of Steve Allen for the

Steve Allen Theater The Steve Allen Theater at the Center for Inquiry in Hollywood, California, was a 99-seat theater which was developed by founding artistic director Amit Itelman. Moved to The Carl Sagan & Ann Druyan Theater. The Center for Inquiry is a nonprofit ...

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

. Affiliated with the

Fine Art Studio of Rotblatt Amrany Julie Rotblatt-Amrany (born July 23, 1958) is an American sculptor and painter whose work explores the resurgence of the figure in modern art. Works * '' The Spirit: Michael Jordan'', heroic sculpture * ''Healing Energy'' (painting) * ''Pet ...

from its founding in 1992, Tillery joined the studio team to create several prominent outdoor sculptures, including ''Luis Aparicio'' at U.S. Cellular Field, ''T. Denny Sanford'' at the Sanford USD Medical Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and ''Ray Kroc'' and ''Ronald McDonald'' in downtown Chicago. He was co-sculptor, with Omri Amrany, on the statue of Pat Tillman for the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

football team, and lead sculptor on the 2-ton, 9-foot statue of Jerry Colangelo for Grand Canyon University in

, erected only a few blocks from Tillery's childhood home. On Veterans Day 2018 his 14-foot work, ''Defenders of Peace,'' was dedicated at the College of Lake County in Illinois. In July 2019 his bronze sculpture of Johnny Appleseed was unveiled in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana. John Chapman (better known as Johnny Appleseed) was a resident of Fort Wayne in the final years of his life, and died there in March 1845. Tillery's life-size bronze statue of

Richard G. Hatcher Richard Gordon Hatcher (July 10, 1933 – December 13, 2019) was an American attorney and politician who served as the first African-American mayor of Gary, Indiana for 20 years, from 1968 to 1988. At the time of his first election on November ...

was dedicated in October 2019 in Gary, Indiana. Hatcher was notable for being the first African-American to be elected mayor of a major U.S. city. Tillery was lead sculptor on the bronze sculpture of Pete DeBusk, chairman of the Lincoln Memorial University Board of Trustees, which was unveiled in October 2021 in Harrogate, Tennessee.

Notable works

(Writer) * ''Darkling Plain'' (2000) * ''Death, Be Not Loud'' (2000) * ''To an Aesthete Dying Young'' (2000) * ''The Cynical Idealist: A Spiritual Biography of John Lennon'' (2009) * ''Working Class Mystic: A Spiritual Biography of George Harrison'' (2011) * ''50 Epiphanies'' (2012) * ''Through a Dark, Glassly'' (2012) * ''She Stalks in Beauty'' (2013) * ''The Seeker King: A Spiritual Biography of Elvis Presley'' (2013) * ''The Ghosts of Wrigley Field'' (2014) * ''The Roots of the Wind'' (2017) * ''Yeshua, My Beloved'' (2017) (Artist) * ''They Also Serve'' (2000) * ''Steve Allen'' (2004) * ''Chicago Vietnam Veterans Memorial'' (2005) * ''Ray Kroc'' (2005) * ''Ronald McDonald'' (2005) * ''Luis Aparicio'' (2006) * ''Pat Tillman'' (2006) * ''T. Denny Sanford'' (2008) * ''Defenders of Peace'' (2018) * ''Jerry Colangelo'' (2019) * ''Johnny Appleseed'' (2019) * ''Pete DeBusk'' (2021)

References

External links

Gary Tillery
– Official Website
Quest Books

Fine Art Studio of Rotblatt-Amrany

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tillery, Gary 1947 births Living people American biographers Arizona State University alumni Thunderbird School of Global Management alumni United States Air Force personnel of the Vietnam War Writers from Phoenix, Arizona Sculptors from Phoenix, Arizona 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American male artists American male sculptors Sculptors from Arizona United States Air Force airmen