Charles Hand Geer (August 25, 1922 – December 7, 2008) was an American illustrator of children's books, two of which he wrote. He also designed numerous book jackets.
Geer grew up on
Long Island, New York, attended
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...
in
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a 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 to the nor ...
, and then served in the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
during World War II. Following the war he attended art school at the
Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was founded in 1887 ...
.
Many of the buildings in his illustrations feature
Second Empire architecture
Second Empire style, also known as the Napoleon III style, is a highly eclectic style of architecture and decorative arts, which uses elements of many different historical styles, and also made innovative use of modern materials, such as ...
, with their characteristic
mansard roofs.
Geer lived until his death in 2008 in
Rockland, Maine
Rockland is a city in Knox County, Maine, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 6,936. It is the county seat of Knox County. The city is a popular tourist destination. It is a departure point for the Maine State ...
, where he enjoyed
sailing
Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' ( sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' ( iceboat) or on ''land'' ( land yacht) over a chose ...
and painting
watercolors
Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to ...
. Over the years he built several boats.
Selected works
As illustrator
*
Game of Statues' by Anne Stevenson
* ''Schoolboy Johnson'' by
John R. Tunis
John Roberts Tunis (December 7, 1889 – February 4, 1975), "the 'inventor' of the modern sports story", was an American writer and broadcaster. Known for his juvenile sports novels, Tunis also wrote short stories and non-fiction, including ...
* ''Mystery at Redtop Hill,'' by Marjory Schwalje, 1965
* ''The Mad Scientists' Club,'' by
Bertrand R. Brinley
Bertrand R. Brinley (19 June 1917 in Hudson, New York – 20 October 1994 in Luray, Virginia) was an American writer of short stories and children's tales. He was best known for his ''Mad Scientists' Club'' stories.
The stories in ''The Ma ...
* ''The New Adventures of the Mad Scientists' Club,'' by Bertrand R. Brinley
* ''The Big Kerplop,'' by Bertrand R. Brinley
* ''The Big Chunk of Ice,'' by Bertrand R. Brinley
* ''The Marvelous Inventions of Alvin Fernald,'' by
Clifford B. Hicks
* ''Miss Pickerell on the Moon,'' by
Dora F. Pantell
Ellen MacGregor (May 15, 1906 – March 29, 1954) was an American children's writer. She is known best for the Miss Pickerell series of children's novels.
Life
She was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to George Malcolm MacGregor and Charlotte Genevi ...
* ''Miss Pickerell and the Weather Satellite,'' by Dora F. Pantell
* ''Miss Pickerell and the Blue Whales,'' by Dora F. Pantell
* ''Miss Pickerell and the War of the Computers,'' by Dora F. Pantell
* ''Miss Pickerell and the Lost World,'' by Dora F. Pantell
* ''Wild Geese Flying,'' by
Cornelia Meigs
Cornelia Lynde Meigs (1884–1973) was an American writer of fiction and biography for children, teacher of English and writing, historian and critic of children's literature. She won the Newbery Medal for her 1933 biography of Louisa May Alcot ...
* ''That Summer With Lexy!,'' by Audrey McKim
* ''McNulty's Holiday,'' by Rutherford Montgomery
* ''Sauncey and Mr. King's Gallery,'' by Clara Ann Simmons
* ''The Biggest (and Best) Flag That Ever Flew,'' by Rebecca C. Jones, 1988
*''The Story of
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
,'' by Arthur J. Beckhard, 1956
[ See Catalog number B0021.]
*
Katie Kittenheart' by
Miriam E. Mason. Macmillan, 1957.
* ''
Lost in the Barrens
''Lost in the Barrens'' is a children's novel by Farley Mowat, first published in 1956. Later editions used the title ''Two Against the North''.
It won Governor General's Award in 1956 and the Canada Library Association Book of the Year for Chil ...
'' by
Farley Mowat
Farley McGill Mowat, (May 12, 1921 – May 6, 2014) was a Canadian writer and environmentalist. His works were translated into 52 languages, and he sold more than 17 million books. He achieved fame with the publication of his books on the Can ...
* ''Sandro's Battle,'' by David Scott Daniell, 1962 (jacket only)
* ''The Pipe Organ in the Parlour,'' by Lilla Stirling, 1960
* ''Secret Under Antarctica,'' by
Gordon R. Dickson
Gordon Rupert Dickson (November 1, 1923 – January 31, 2001) was a Canadian- American science fiction writer. He was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2000.
Biography
Dickson was born in Edmonton, Alberta, ...
* ''The Secret Raft,'' by Hazel Krantz
* ''Plain Girl,'' by Virginia Sorensen
* ''Gretchen of Grand Pré,'' by Lilla Stirling
* "The Lonely Mound," by William Campbell Gault (cover illustrator)
As author
* ''Dexter and the Deer Lake Mystery'' (1965)
* ''Soot Devil'' (1971)
* ''The
Pipe Organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''rank ...
in the Parlour'' (also by Lilla Stirling, 1960)
References
External links
Happy 85th, Charles Geer! (Illustrator, "The Mad Scientists' Club" by Bertrand Brinley)familysearch.orgnbsp;— U.S. Social Security Death Index for Charles H Geer
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* https://www.facebook.com/CharlesGeerillustrator/?fref=ts
American illustrators
2008 deaths
1922 births
20th-century American male writers
Dartmouth College alumni
United States Navy personnel of World War II
Pratt Institute alumni
{{US-illustrator-stub