A Conversation with Wendell Minor & Abigail Rockwell

The Hickory Stick Bookshop will host a conversation between award-winning illustrator Wendell Minor and Abigail Rockwell in celebration of the release of Norman Rockwell’s My Adventures as an Illustrator: The Definitive Edition, for which Abigail Rockwell (Norman’s granddaughter) is the editor and author of a new introduction. The event will be in the bookshop on Saturday, July 6th at 3pm, after which there will be an opportunity to get books signed.

The life of America’s most beloved artist, in his own words–back in print with restored text and drawings, new illustrations, and more.

The wit, humanity, and many-sided talent of Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) are on full display in his classic autobiography. Rockwell’s New York City boyhood, his apprentice days at the Art Students League, his first fateful visit to the Saturday Evening Post, his adventures abroad, his move to rural Vermont–all are recounted with a mix of sharp observation and self-deprecating humor. Throughout Rockwell invites the reader into his artistic process: he introduces his favorite models, candidly reveals his biggest flops, and documents the creation of a Post cover step by step.

This Definitive Edition restores the original 1960 text of My Adventures as an Illustrator, as well as the playful vignettes that Rockwell drew to head each chapter. Thanks to a massive image digitization effort undertaken by the Norman Rockwell Museum, it is also illustrated with more than 150 of Rockwell’s paintings and drawings, many of which highlight lesser-known aspects of his work. A new introduction by the artist’s granddaughter Abigail Rockwell adds reference value, as do an illustrated chronology and an annotated bibliography prepared by the staff of the Norman Rockwell Museum.

This attractive volume will be the essential source on the life of Norman Rockwell, and delightful reading for anyone who enjoys his art. Plus, its publication coincides with a major new exhibition at the Norman Rockwell Museum concerning the autobiographical elements in the artist’s work (Norman Rockwell: Private Moments for the Masses, June 8 through October 27, 2019).

Abigail Rockwell, granddaughter of Norman Rockwell, is a jazz singer and songwriter. After her mother’s passing, she joined her father, Thomas Rockwell, to administer the Norman Rockwell Family Agency. She was instrumental in fighting the fraudulent 2013 biography of her grandfather, the Artist and Illustrator Norman Rockwell, writing front page articles for the Huffington Post and the Saturday Evening Post. After years of investigating her grandfather’s life in the wake of that biography, Abigail Rockwell is now one of the few legitimate Rockwell scholars in the world, along with her father, and recognized as such by Sotheby’s and the National Museum of American Illustration in Rhode Island.

Wendell Minor has illustrated and/or written over fifty children’s books, many of them award winners. He was recently honored as the Norman Rockwell Museum’s 2018-2019 Artist Laureate. He is known for his collaborations with the late Jean Craighead George. He lives in Connecticut. His most recent book, The Magic of Letters, was written by Tony Johnston and came out in April 2019. Hi, I’m Norman, a children’s picture book biography of Norman Rockwell written by Robert Burleigh and illustrated by Wendell Minor, will be released in October 2019.

This event is free and open to the public. If you are unable to attend this event, you may reserve a signed copy of My Adventures as an Illustrator: The Definitive Edition by calling The Hickory Stick Bookshop at (860) 868 0525. For further information about this event please visit www.hickorystickbookshop.com or email [email protected]