In conjunction with the opening of Beautiful Blackbird: The Creative Spirit of Ashley Bryan, this symposium will bring together a range of speakers to reflect on Ashley Bryan's legacy as an artist, teacher, children's book author and illustrator, and citizen of the world, while looking at how his legacy is being moved forward by those inspired and mentored by him. My god, Ashley, have you earned your rest.Hybrid event: Class of 1978 Orrery Pavilion, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center, sixth floor and on Zoom If you put art into the world, you will get beauty in return.'Īmong the tributes to Bryan, author Jason Reynolds wrote: 'But we throw 'National Treasure' around so cavalierly that when you get to know one, you realize how rare they are, and you want the world to dance jubilee in their honor.

He played the recorder and sang spirituals.īoth whimsical and deeply spiritual, he once said, 'There are so many ways in which we learn about life and the self. He made puppets out of bones, shells and other objects he found on the beaches near his home on one of the Cranberry Isles off the cost of Maine. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, according to a profile in the magazine of his alma mater, Columbia University. Growing up in the Bronx, he loved the stained-glass windows at the nearby St. Infinite Hope is Bryan's picture book memoir about serving in the segregated Army during World War II.īryan drew inspiration from a wide variety of cultures, artistic styles and disciplines. The books he wrote and illustrated himself include Infinite Hope about his experiences serving in the segregated Army during WWII, Beat the Story-Drum: Pum-Pum, his retelling of Nigerian tales and Beautiful Blackbird, a story that celebrates community and individuality. In a career spanning more than six decades, Bryan's vibrantly colored collage and paper-cut illustrations adorned the pages of some 50 books, folktales and poetry collections by such acclaimed writers as Langston Hughes, Nikki Giovanni and Walter Dean Myers. It noted that after his last birthday on July 13, 2021, he 'continued to recite poetry from his vast repertoire – especially Shakespeare's sonnets – up to the very end.' He was 98.īryan's website said he died Friday at the home of his niece. Children's author and illustrator Ashley Bryan has died at age 98.Īshley Bryan, the celebrated children's book author and illustrator who created stories centered on African and African American folk tales, has died.

Beautiful Blackbird by Ashley Bryan