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| Louise Cooper obituary Prolific, sharply witty writer of fantasy novels for all agesA self-professed scatterbrain whose childhood was spent thinking up stories, Louise Cooper, who has died from an aneurysm aged 57, became one of Britain's finest authors of epic fantasy novels for both adults and children.Born Louise Antell in Barnet, Hertfordshire, she had a happy childhood in which lessons were often neglected in favour of clandestine story-writing. Her determination to become a writer eventually persuaded her parents to allow her to abandon her education at the age of 15, and she left St Albans high school for girls to pursue this dream.The gamble more than paid off. In 1972 Louise moved to London to work as a blurb-writer for a publisher and continued to write in her spare time. Her first novel, The Book of Paradox (1973), was followed in 1977 by Lord of No Time, which was later expanded to become the Time Master trilogy (1986), an epic adult fantasy sequence, for which she went on to write both sequel and prequel trilogies. It secured her a huge fanbase and a global reputation as a master of her craft.Louise more than lived up to the expectation that followed her early success, going on to write more than 80 books and regularly and enthusiastically attending conventions in far-flung places to interact with her fans. In the mid-1990s, she began to write books for children and enjoyed success with her Creatures series as well as her Sea Horses and Mermaid Curse quartets for younger readers.I was fortunate to work as editor on nine of her books for young adults at Hodder, beginning in 1996 with the wonderful Daughter of Storms trilogy, a spin-off created around the world of the Time Master books. I was immediately drawn to her sense of fun and her staggering imagination. Daydreaming in favour of learning at school should not usually be encouraged, yet had a very tempting advocate in Louise.Though she clearly relished the twists and turns of the plotting of her novels, as well as incorporating her interests in folklore, mythology and comparative religion, Louise was careful to let her characters lead the events. Elves, dragons and wise old sages were not her thing. Instead, with the turning of each page (which was never less than rapid and greedy as far as I was concerned), came strong and satisfying relationships and humane protagonists. She had the same brilliantly sharp wit – and was capable of the same feisty and vivacious banter – that she bestowed upon her characters.Indeed, it is the wit and affection in Louise's fiction, as much as her clever and enthralling plotlines – and truly terrifying denouements – that made her such a well-rounded writer. She brought so much of herself into her work and never failed to include one of her beloved cats, allowing them to stalk charismatically across the pages and take centre stage with their human co-conspirators. She even dedicated many of her books to her pets.Latterly, Louise had embraced life in Cornwall, involving herself fully in local activities. She felt immediately at home in St Agnes, the coastal town where she settled in the mid-1990s with her partner, the artist Cas Sandall, whom she married soon afterwards (an earlier marriage, to Gary Cooper, had ended in divorce). The sea and the landscape became an inspiration and brought a new dimension to her books and to her life in general. Louise became treasurer of her local lifeboat station, and she and Cas both sang with the Falmouth Shout, a shanty group, which gave her enormous pleasure.It always struck me that Louise was gloriously content, that she relished, savoured life. She was a wonderfully warm person, kind and interested. Every conversation we had left me considerably cheered. She is survived by Cas and by her beloved cat, Simba.• Louise Cooper, writer, born 29 May 1952; died 21 October 2009FictionChildren and teenagersguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds feeds.guardian.co.uk |
Battling the Skeptics Michael Specter takes on those he sees as denying science, from promoters of alternative medicines to anti-vaccine zealots. feeds.nytimes.com |
kThe Snowball by Alice Shroeder | Book review As recently as 2008, Warren Buffett was estimated to be the richest man in the world. He gives away nearly all his fortune to charitable causes and calls those born into money "members of the lucky sperm club". What's not to like? Quite a lot, actually. Although the American investor hand-picked Schroeder, formerly a leading market analyst, the book does not hold back on the story's more sensitive aspects – Buffet's estrangement from his first wife, for example – nor those smaller details which speak to the cold calculation behind his success (he has driven hard bargains with his children to make them lose weight). The picture that emerges is intriguing – but not one that a man accustomed to getting his own way would necessarily be pleased with.Warren BuffettMary Fitzgeraldguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds feeds.guardian.co.uk |
Susan Einzig obituary Leading illustrator known for her work on Tom's Midnight GardenSusan Einzig, who has died aged 87, was one of the 20th century's key British book illustrators, and a central figure in the postwar London art scene. Best known for her illustrations for the children's novel Tom's Midnight Garden (1958), by Philippa Pearce, she illustrated for a range of authors and publishers and was a regular Radio Times artist during its black-and-white heyday in the 1940s and 50s. She continued to paint, draw and exhibit until well into her 80s.Born in Berlin, Einzig grew up in a Jewish middle-class family, in a spacious building that is now part of the city's university. Her father owned a garment factory and encouraged his daughter's artistic ambitions. She began art school at the age of 15 in a climate of growing antisemitism. In the spring of 1939, Einzig found herself on one of the last Kindertransport trains to reach Britain before the outbreak of war. Later she would learn of her father's death at the Nazi concentration camp at Theresienstadt; her mother managed to escape.Enrolling as a student at London's Central School of Arts and Crafts, Einzig learned wood engraving under Gertrude Hermes and John Farleigh, and was taught drawing and illustration by Bernard Meninsky, William Roberts and Maurice Kesselman. After an unhappy evacuation to Yorkshire, she moved to Northampton, where the London art schools were temporarily resettled.After the war she began to receive illustration commissions. "There was an upsurge in work and no one to do it," she told me. "I didn't feel that I could do it either but I was on the crest of a wave of optimism." Her first commission, in 1945, came from Noel Carrington and his Transatlantic Arts publishing venture. Norah Pulling's Mary Belinda and the Ten Aunts was illustrated by drawing directly on to lithographic plates for each of six colours. Carrington had pioneered the use of this process, known as autolithography, using it with his hugely successful Picture Puffin series. Einzig recalled the sense of privilege that she felt as she was sent to the special "artists' room" at Cowell's printers in Ipswich, where a team of skilled lithographers were put at her disposal in the production of this charming little book.Needing to support herself with a "proper job", she took a part-time teaching post at Camberwell School of Art, in south-east London, courtesy of the principal, William Johnson, who had taught her in Northampton. Among her students were Euan Uglow and Terry Scales. She was also put to work teaching ex-servicemen at Camberwell who had been given grants to retrain. These included the musicians Humphrey Lyttelton and Wally Fawkes.It was at Camberwell that Einzig met the person who would be the greatest influence on her life, the charismatic, mercurial illustrator and painter, John Minton, who, along with Keith Vaughan, was also teaching there. "I was quickly drawn into this group," she said. "We all used to meet at weekends and draw each other. We went to the cinema and discovered the films of Jean Renoir, René Clair and Marcel Carné. We jived and jitterbugged to Humphrey Lyttelton's jazz band every Monday evening. We also got sucked into the drinking scene in Soho. It was all over within two or three years, but in my memory it seems to have been much longer."Einzig took on numerous illustration commissions over the ensuing years, her distinctive black-and-white drawing style gradually shaking off the Minton influence and asserting its own elegant, literary identity. A lifelong love of theatre is often evident in the stage-like construction of many of her drawings.The commission to illustrate Tom's Midnight Garden came about by chance: "I had been to see the children's book editor at Oxford University Press, who looked at my work and seemed very unsure about it. However, she gave me Philippa Pearce's manuscript to try to see if I could do it. I did two or three drawings and took them to show her, and then she asked me to do the book ... I was paid just a hundred pounds for the whole thing." Among the other titles she illustrated were Alphonse Daudet's Sappho: A Picture of Life in Paris, for the Folio Society in 1954, and E Nesbit's The Bastables, for Franklin Watts in 1966.She joined the teaching staff of Chelsea School of Art, under Lawrence Gowing, continuing to teach there for more than 30 years. The list of her former students is long, and includes artists such as Sue Coe and Emma Chichester Clark, and the actor Alan Rickman.Throughout her life she remained highly political and fiercely opposed to injustice in all its forms – she could never walk past a beggar without reaching for her purse. She was a loyal friend and an inspiring teacher.She is survived by her daughter, Hetty, and two grandchildren.• Susan Einzig, illustrator, painter and teacher, born 16 November 1922; died 25 December 2009ArtArtRadio Timesguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds feeds.guardian.co.uk |
Poe fans fear grave tribute is to happen nevermore A mysterious visitor who for decades has left roses and cognac before dawn at Edgar Allan Poe's grave failed to turn up today, the 201st anniversary of the writer's birthday. Jeff Jerome, curator of the Poe museum in Baltimore, waited in the cemetery all night with three dozen people. The tradition dates back to at least 1949 and the visitor has never missed before. Cynthia Pelayo, 29, said: "I flew in from Chicago to see him. I'm just really sad." The fans passed the night reading aloud from Poe's works, including the poem The Raven, with its haunting repetition of the word "nevermore".Edgar Allan Poeguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds feeds.guardian.co.uk |