Wallace Whitney Tripp (June 26, 1940 – September 9, 2018) was an American

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

anthologist In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically catego ...

and

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

. He was known for creating

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

animal characters of emotional complexity and for his great visual and verbal humor. He was one of several illustrators of the ''

Amelia Bedelia Amelia Bedelia is the protagonist and title character of a series of American children's books that were written by Peggy Parish from 1963 until her death in 1988, and by her nephew, Herman, beginning in 1995. They have been illustrated by W ...

'' series of children's stories. He has illustrated over 40 books, including ''Marguerite, Go Wash Your Feet'' (1985), ''Wallace Tripp's Wurst Seller'' (1981), ''

Casey at the Bat Casey at the Bat is a poem written in 1888 by Ernest Thayer. Casey at the Bat may also refer to: * ''Casey at the Bat'' (1916 film), a film based on the poem * ''Casey at the Bat'' (1927 film), a film based on the poem * ''Casey at the Bat'', an ...

'' (1978) and ''A Great Big Ugly Man Came Up and Tied His Horse to Me'' (1973). Tripp also drew many

greeting card A greeting card is a piece of card stock, usually with an illustration or photo, made of high quality paper featuring an expression of friendship or other sentiment. Although greeting cards are usually given on special occasions such as birthday ...

s for the Pawprints line.

Biography

Born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, Tripp grew up in rural

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

and

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 ...

. He attended the

School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University (Museum School, SMFA at Tufts, or SMFA; formerly the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) is the art school of Tufts University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusett ...

(SMFA) where he studied graphic arts. He received a bachelor's degree in education from

Keene State College Keene State College is a public liberal arts college in Keene, New Hampshire. It is part of the University System of New Hampshire and the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. Founded in 1909 as a teacher's college (originally, Keene Norma ...

and studied English at the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, mo ...

. He then taught English for three years until choosing to devote himself full-time to illustration. For a time, Tripp's ex-wife Marcy ran a publishing house, Sparhawk Books, that published two of his books, ''Wallace Tripp's Wurst Seller'' and an illustrated edition of

Hilaire Belloc Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc (, ; 27 July 187016 July 1953) was a Franco-English writer and historian of the early twentieth century. Belloc was also an orator, poet, sailor, satirist, writer of letters, soldier, and political activist. H ...

's ''The Bad Child's Book of Beasts''. During the 1980s, Tripp worked on an animation project with Richard Purdom's British studio. Throughout his career he created many greeting cards for Pawprints, a family-owned business, whose publisher was then wife, Marcy Tripp. A lover of classical music and a pilot, Tripp frequently included airplanes and musical references in his illustrations. For many years, he built and flew radio-controlled model planes. He lived in

Peterborough, New Hampshire Peterborough is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 6,418 at the 2020 census. The main village, with 3,090 people at the 2020 census, is defined as the Peterborough census-designated place (CDP) and ...

and had three children, two sons and a daughter. He had been retired for over 20 years due to

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

. On September 9, 2018, the official Wallace Tripp Facebook page announced his death.Wallace Tripp – RIP
/ref>

Bibliography

*''The Tale of a Pig: A Caucasian Folktale'', McGraw, 1968. *''A Great Big Ugly Man Came Up and Tied His Horse to Me: A Book of Nonsense Verse'', Little, Brown, 1973. *''My Uncle Podger: A Picture Book'' (based on a passage from ''Three Men in a Boat'' by

Jerome K. Jerome Jerome Klapka Jerome (2 May 1859 – 14 June 1927) was an English writer and humourist, best known for the comic travelogue ''Three Men in a Boat'' (1889). Other works include the essay collections '' Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow'' (1886) an ...

), Little, Brown, 1975. *''Granfa' Grig Had a Pig and Other Rhymes without Reason from Mother Goose'' (verse), Little, Brown, 1976. *''Sir Toby Jingle's Beastly Journey'' (

Junior Literary Guild Junior Library Guild, formerly the Junior Literary Guild, is a commercial book club devoted to juvenile literature. It was created in 1929 as one of the enterprises of the Literary Guild, an adult book club created in 1927 by Samuel W. Craig and H ...

selection), Coward, 1976. *''Rhymes without Reason from Mother Goose'', World's Work, 1980. *''Wallace Tripp's Wurst Seller'', Sparhawk, 1981. *''Marguerite, Go Wash Your Feet!'' (verse), Houghton, 1985. *''Rose's Are Red, Violet's Are Blue and Other Silly Poems'', Little Brown & Co., 1999

Bibliography as illustrator

*Reginald B. Hegarty, ''Rope's End'', Houghton, 1965. *Lisa Tsarelka, ''Stay Away From My Lawnmower'', Houghton, 1965. *Ruth Christoffer Carlsen, ''Henrietta Goes West'', Houghton, 1966. *Carlsen, ''Hildy and the Cuckoo Clock'', Houghton, 1966. *Ilse Kleberger, ''Grandmother Oma'', Atheneum, 1967. *

Andrew Lang Andrew Lang (31 March 1844 – 20 July 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University ...

, editor, ''Read Me Another Fairy Tale'', Grosset, 1967. *Katherine E. Miller, ''Saint George: A Christmas Mummers' Play'', Houghton, 1967. *Gerald Dumas, ''Rabbits Rafferty'', Houghton, 1968. *Carlsen, ''Sam Bottleby'', Houghton, 1968. *Felice Holman, ''The Holiday Rat, and the Utmost Mouse'' (short stories), Norton, 1969. *John Erwin, ''Mrs. Fox'', Simon & Schuster, 1969. *

Scott Corbett W. Scott Corbett (July 27, 1913 – March 6, 2006) was an American novelist and educator. Beginning 1950 he wrote five adult novels, then began writing books for children. He retired from teaching in 1965 to write full-time. His best known book ...

, ''The Baseball Bargain'', Little, Brown, 1970. *

Tom Paxton Thomas Richard Paxton (born October 31, 1937) is an American folk singer-songwriter who has had a music career spanning more than fifty years. In 2009, Paxton received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

, ''Jennifer's Rabbit'', Putnam, 1970. *Rene Guillot, ''Little Dog Lost'', translated by Joan Selby-Lowndes, Lothrup, 1970. *Betty Brock, ''No Flying in the House'', Harper, 1970. *Ferdinand N. Monjo, ''Pirates in Panama'', Simon & Schuster, 1970. *Robert Sidney Bigelow, ''Stubborn Bear'', Little, Brown, 1970. *Julian Bagley, ''Candle-Lighting Time in Bodidalee'' (folktales), foreword by Alfred V. Frankenstein, American Heritage Publishing Co., 1971. *

Peggy Parish Margaret Cecile "Peggy" Parish (July 14, 1927 – November 19, 1988) was an American writer known best for the children's book series and fictional character Amelia Bedelia. Parish was born in Manning, South Carolina attended the University of ...

, ''Come Back, Amelia Bedelia'', Harper, 1971. *Victor Sharoff, ''The Heart of the Wood'', Coward, 1971. *Marguerita Rudolph, adapter, ''The Magic Egg, and Other Folk Stories of Rumania'', Little, Brown, 1971. *Peter Hallard, ''Puppy Lost in Lapland'', F. Watts, 1971. *Patricia Thomas, ''"Stand Back," Said the Elephant, "I'm Going to Sneeze!,"'' Lothrup, 1971. *Miriam Anne Bourne, ''Tigers in the Woods'', Coward, 1971. *Tony Johnston, ''The Adventures of Mole and Troll'', Putnam, 1972. *Cynthia Jameson, adapter, ''Catofy the Clever'' (folktale), Coward, 1972. *Liesel Moak Skorpen, ''Old Arthur'', Harper, 1972. *

, ''Play Ball, Amelia Bedelia'', Harper, 1972. *Carolyn Lane, ''The Voices of Greenwillow Pond'', Houghton, 1972. * Boris Vladimirovich Zakhoder, ''The Crocodile's Toothbrush'', translated by Marguerita Rudolph, McGraw, 1973. *Malcolm Hall, ''Headlines'', (Junior Literary Guild selection), Coward, 1973. *Johnston, ''Mole and Troll Trim the Tree'', (Junior Literary Guild selection), Putnam, 1974, revised edition, 1980. *

Jan Wahl Jan Boyer Wahl (April 1, 1931 - January 29, 2019) was an American children's author. He was a prolific author of over 120 works, and was known primarily for his award-winning children's books, including ''Pleasant Fieldmouse'', ''The Furious Fl ...

, ''Pleasant Fieldmouse's Halloween Party'', Putnam, 1974. *Robert Fremlin, ''Three Friends'', Little, Brown, 1975. *

Ernest Lawrence Thayer Ernest Lawrence Thayer (; August 14, 1863 – August 21, 1940) was an American writer and poet who wrote the poem "Casey" (or "Casey at the Bat"), which is "the single most famous baseball poem ever written" according to the Baseball Almanac, and ...

, '' Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic, Sung in the Year 1888'' (verse), Coward, 1978. *

, '' The Bad Child's Book of Beasts'', revised edition, Sparhawk, 1982.

Awards

*''Granfa' Grig Had a Pig and Other Rhymes without Reason from Mother Goose'' (

Little, Brown Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emily D ...

, 1976), which Tripp both wrote and illustrated, won the 1977

Boston Globe–Horn Book Award The Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards are a set of American literary awards conferred by ''The Boston Globe'' and ''The Horn Book Magazine'' annually from 1967. One book is recognized in each of four categories: Fiction and Poetry, Nonfiction, and P ...

for Picture Books. *''A Great Big Ugly Man Came Up and Tied His Horse to Me: A Book of Nonsense Verse'' (Little, Brown, 1973) appeared on the ALA Notable Book for Children list.

References

Sources

*Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2009. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2009. *Kingman, L. et al. (1978). ''Illustrators of Children's Books 1967-1976'', Horn Book, p. 164. *Silvey, A., ed (1995). ''Children's Books and Their Creators'', p. 651-653.

External links

*
Obituary.
The Monadnock ''Ledger-Transcript''. Sept. 18, 2018
Exhibit at Hancock Town Library, Hancock, NH
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tripp, Wallace 1940 births 2018 deaths American children's book illustrators American children's writers American humorists Artists from Boston People from Peterborough, New Hampshire