Don Freeman was born in San Diego, California, in 1908. At an early age, he received a trumpet as a gift from his father. He practiced obsessively and eventually joined a California danceband. After graduating from high school, he ventured to New York City to study art under the tutelage of Joan Sloan and Harry Wickey at the Art Students' League. He managed to support himself throughout his schooling by playing his trumpet evenings, in nightclubs and at weddings.
Gradually, he eased into making a living sketching impressions
of Broadway shows for The New York Times and The Herald
Tribune. This shift was helped along, in no small part, by a
rather heartbreaking incident; he lost his trumpet. One evening, he
was so engrossed in sketching people on the subway, he simply
forgot it was sitting on the seat beside him. This new career
turned out to be a near-perfect fit for Don, though, as he had
always loved the theater.He was introduced to the world of
Childrens' Literature, when William Saroyan asked him to illustrate
several books. Soon after, he began to write and illustrate his own
books, a career he settled into comfortably and happily. Through
his writing, he was able to create his own theater: I love the flow
of turning the pages, the suspense of what's next. Ideas just come
at me and after me. It's all so natural. I work all the time, long
into the night, and it's such a pleasure. I don't know when the
time ends. I've never been happier in my life!Don died in 1978,
after a long and successful career. He created many beloved
characters in his lifetime, perhaps the most beloved among them a
stuffed, overall-wearing bear, named Corduroy.Don Freeman was the
author and illustrator of many popularbooks for children, including
Corduroy, A Pocket for Corduroy, and theCaldecott
Honor Book Fly High, Fly Low. For more information about Don
Freeman, please visit: www.donfreeman.info
B.G. Hennessy is the author of Road Builders and The
First Night (both Viking and Puffin). She lives in Paradise
Valley, Arizona.
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