Illustrator Thomas B. Allen died from complications of heart surgery on November 8. He was 76.
Allen studied art at the Art Institute of Chicago and upon graduating, began doing editorial artwork at such magazines as Sports Illustrated, McCall's and Colliers. He also illustrated many album covers before he began illustrating books for children. He illustrated more than a dozen titles, including In Coal Country by Judith Hendershot (Knopf), which was named an honor book for the Boston Globe—Horn Book Awards; he also illustrated several books by Gloria Houston. Most recently Allen finished paintings for a book written by Dorothy Carter titled Grandma's General Store: The Ark, which Farrar, Straus & Giroux will publish in 2005.
Apart from his own work as an artist, Allen also taught illustration for many years and was chair of the illustration department at the Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, Fla., at the time of his death.
