Martin Lemelman (born October 26, 1950) is an American freelance illustrator and graphic

memoirist A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobiog ...

Early life and education

Born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, he grew up in an

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...

home, and attended a

yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are s ...

. At 13 he decided he wanted to be an artist. His training in art began after entering

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus. Being New York City's first publ ...

, where he received undergraduate and

Masters of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...

degrees. Since 1976 he has been a freelance illustrator.

Career

Lemelman has illustrated over 30 children's books and his work has been published in magazines ranging from

The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

Sesame Street Magazine ''Sesame Street Magazine'' is an American monthly magazine based on the long-running children's television series ''Sesame Street''. The magazine features characters from the television series, and emphasizes ''Sesame Street''s educational goals ...

. He is the author of two graphic memoirs. The child of

Holocaust survivors Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and Axis powers, its allies before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no unive ...

, in 1989 he began to videotape his mother, Gusta, as she opened up about her 1930s Polish childhood and her eventual escape from Nazi persecution. His original idea was to save his mother's memories for his children. Prodded by a 2000 visit to Hermakivka, Gusta's town in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, he realized he had to tell her story. He returned to it in 2003, and it evolved into the 2006 graphic memoir, ''Mendel's Daughter'', that has been called a unique contributor to Holocaust literature. He used a multimedia approach, using photos and documents, so that the reader would understand that what happened to Gusta happened to real people. Through this approach, Lemelman has Gusta inform the reader about her life and the people in it, as well as her emotional investment in what is pictured. In 2013

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

listed ''Mendel's Daughter'' as one of the ten greatest graphic novels ever written. In ''Two Cents Plain: My Brooklyn Childhood'' he continued the family saga. Raised in the back of a candy store in Brownsville in the 50s and 60s, as the neighborhood changed, he tells the story of his childhood in the form of a graphic memoir. ''Two Cents Plain'' won the 2010 New York City Book Award for memoir. Lemelman is emeritus professor of

communication design Communication design is a mixed discipline between design and information-development which is concerned with how media communicate with people. A communication design approach is not only concerned with developing the message in addition to the ...

Kutztown University Kutztown University of Pennsylvania (Kutztown University or KU) is a public university in Kutztown, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) and is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher ...

. In 1985 he designed five postage stamps for

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

promoting the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia ha ...

Personal

Lemelman lives in

South Florida South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...

. He is married with four sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lemelman, Martin American graphic novelists Jewish American artists Jewish American writers People from Brownsville, Brooklyn Living people 1950 births Kutztown University of Pennsylvania faculty Brooklyn College alumni American memoirists Communication scholars American children's book illustrators Jewish American academics 21st-century American Jews