Garth Williams, American illustrator (b. 1912)
Garth Montgomery Williams (April 16, 1912 – May 8, 1996) was an American artist who came to prominence in the American postwar era as an illustrator of children's books. Many of the books he illustrated have become classics of American children's literature.
In Stuart Little, Charlotte's Web, and in the Little House series of books of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Williams['s] drawings have become inseparable from how we think of those stories. In that respect ... Williams['s] work belongs in the same class as Sir John Tenniel's drawings for Alice in Wonderland, or Ernest Shepard's illustrations for Winnie the Pooh.
His friendly, fuzzy baby animals populated a dozen Little Golden Books.
Mel Gussow in The New York Times wrote, "He believed that books 'given, or read, to children can have a profound influence!' For that reason, he said, he used his illustrations to try to 'awaken something of importance ... humor, responsibility, respect for others, interest in the world at large!'"
1996May, 8
Garth Williams
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Events on 1996
- 10Feb
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IBM supercomputer Deep Blue defeats Garry Kasparov in chess for the first time. - 13May
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Severe thunderstorms and a tornado in Bangladesh kill 600 people. - 10Jun
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Peace talks begin in Northern Ireland without the participation of Sinn Féin. - 4Sep
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War on Drugs: Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) attack a military base in Guaviare, starting three weeks of guerrilla warfare in which at least 130 Colombians are killed. - 25Nov
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An ice storm strikes the central U.S., killing 26 people. A powerful windstorm affects Florida and winds gust over 90 mph, toppling trees and flipping trailers.