Friday 8 March 2024

Raymond Sheppard and Blackie's Boys' Annual 1940?

Blackie's Boys' Annual (1940?) p.174
"Beats me", he muttered

"The Great One" written by T. C. Bridges appears in the Blackie's Boys' Annual below. Raymond Sheppard has two illustrations in the story, the first at the head of this article.

Blackie's Boys' Annual (1940?) cover by D. L. Mays

SUMMARY

The story concerns Dick and Lawrence who are cousins staying near the Zambezi with Dick's Uncle who it appears is almost bankrupt. The two teenagers are always in competition until one day a native tells of a lion that swam across the half-mile wide river. Lawrence does not believe it but Dick volunteers to go and shoot it when it is discovered there are tracks on the other side of the crocodile-infested river, but Lawrence feigns a fever to stay behind.  Dick is accompanied by local men whose livestock are being attacked. Unfortunately the lion appears suddenly and Dick finds his ammo has been tampered with. Luckily the palm stems (see second illustration) give Dick time to recover and fire at the brute. In the midst of the adventure Dick falls down a pit and discovers something that will save his Uncle: gold! Lawrence is sent home to England in shame for nearly getting Dick killed .

DATING THE ANNUAL

Trying to date this book is hard (as are a lot of Blackie & Son plus Odhams' titles) but I feel it's 1940 (which is like predicting the future - prone to easy criticism). Stella and Rose's Books date it as 1924 - but there is no interior evidence and indeed it can't be as Sheppard would be 11 years old. Although he was prolific and did draw a lot around that age (see for example here) it's very unlikely he was employed by Blackie in 1924. I wonder if they, like me, looked through the stories to guess how old any historic stories were - and came to 1924 because, there's a tale of "Pasha Peake" and as Wikipedia tells us, 

During the summers of 1921 and 1923, Peake organised the 150-man Reserve Mobile Force, which formed the nucleus of the Arab Legion. 

A Galway bookseller says it's 1930 but I can see no evidence to be that certain and anyway they also state there are "42780 pages" here! There are in fact 208 pages.  I can just see an inscription in my copy - which sadly has been rubbed out - which looks to be 1940.

On the back cover Blackie advertise various titles. The Douglas V. Duff authored "Jack Harding Adventure Series" is one listing, 4 titles being available. Checking dates of these, I found

  • Harding of the Palestine police 1938 [not on the linked list]
  • Harding's Mountain Treasure, 1938
  • Harding and the Screaming Mantle, 1939
  • Jack Harding's Quest, 1939

So I'm going for 1940, but am happy to be contradicted.

THE AUTHOR

Here's the entry for the rather interesting author of the tale, T. C. Bridges, from Lofts and Adley's "The Men Behind Boys' Fiction". 

Bridges, Thomas Charles
Born in France 1868, the son of a clergyman and was educated at Marlborough College. In 1886 he went to Florida to work on an orange plantation, but after much hard work and many adventures he returned to England in 1894, almost penniless, and decided to try his hand at writing. His first two articles on fishing in Florida appeared in
The Field, then, after contributing freelance items to many magazines, including Answers - where he joined the latter as a sub-editor - he resigned after about four years to concentrate on freelance writing.
In 1902 he wrote his first boys' story. Gilbert Floyd, who was the editor of
Boys Realm, suggested that he write a serial for the paper, and the result was 'Paddy Leary's Schooldays' - the adventures of an Australian boy at an English public school. It was so popular that he wrote two further long sequels and several short stories about the characters.
He also wrote the first story in the new series of the
Union Jack, 'With Pick and Lamp'. Apart from being a prolific contributor to many boys' papers, he also wrote books for boys, mainly adventure stories.
In the early 1900's, Bridges and his wife (whom he married in 1899) went to live at Dartmoor, only two miles from the prison. This, no doubt, is why he was fond of writing tales featuring prison life. He wrote Sexton Blake stories for the
Union Jack and as late as 1939 he was still contributing to B.O.P., Scout, and Children's Newspaper, where he was affectionately known as T.C.B. In 1928 he published his autobiography 'From Florida to Fleet Street'. His recreations were fishing, golf and gardening, and he was a good friend of Sidney Gowing. He died in Torquay, where he lived during his declining years, in June 1944.

The second illustration by Sheppard is on page 177 and is the rather dramatic image of Dick and the lion.
 

Blackie's Boys' Annual (1940?) p.177
Dick flung himself sideways
Finally here are the contents page listings for this annual to help researchers.




"Pinnacle Ridge" is credited to the author "Hubert Walker" and the accompanying illustrations  to George R Day. Unfortunately someone has listed the colour illustration which is signed by Day as drawn by Walker for page 96.

Friday 16 February 2024

Raymond Sheppard and Gibson Cowan

Original art for Lilliput April-May, 1952, p.61

I wanted to mention the stories and articles of Gibson Cowan, whose work I've shown previously (see the links in the list below). I mentioned he had a relationship with Elizabeth David the famous post WWII cookery writer and it's quite a story in itself.

Interestingly the General Fiction Magazine Index lists all Cowan's works as being in Lilliput alone, which in itself is unusual. I've looked through each of the copies I have and there are no further clues except that of internal evidence within the stories and articles. 

In the April-May 1952 edition of Lilliput (pages 61-63) we read about the author and his wife Judith (Fellows, according to Dixon Evening Telegraph (24 November 1951)) in a seventeen-foot canoe on the Mississippi. The trip looks to have taken place the previous year. The image above, from "What it Feels Like to Shoot a Rapid" shows the two people in the canoe just when a muskrat swims across their bow. A second illustration by Sheppard showed the pair actually shooting the rapids!

 

Lilliput April-May1952, p.62
Cowan appears to have been quite an adventurer - reflected in his writings. The second piece, an article on attempts to 'conquer' Niagara Falls. The November-December 1952 Lilliput sees the tale "Going over Niagara" with three accompanying illustrations by Sheppard. 

 

Lilliput Nov-Dec 1952, p.79

Lilliput Nov-Dec 1952, p.80

Lilliput Nov-Dec 1952, p.81

The next story illustrated by Sheppard, written by Gibson Cowan is "The Fire" in September 1955 with a nice single page illustration. I always love these images where text is set in an area left by the artist. Note that Lilliput is still using that single 'lozenge' text descriptor to tell us this is about "Adventure".

Lilliput Sept 1955 "The Fire", p.34

 
Original Art from Lilliput Sept 1955
"Jumping a crocodile" by Gibson Cowan appeared in Lilliput October 1955 and tells the tale of catching West Indian Cayman on the edge of mangroves in the dark!

Lilliput October 1955 "Jumping a crocodile", p.29

Lilliput October 1955 Original art, p.30

The last story by Gibson Cowan illustrated by Raymond Sheppard was  "Lost in a volcano" which appeared in April 1956. I suspect the author (or his fictitious creation?) had too much time on his hand, as he explores the idea of ice forming in a volcano. An editor's note after the article explains:

EDITOR'S NOTE:
A phenomenon similar to that described by the author occurs at Sunset Crater in the Arizona Desert, U.S.A., where at the height of summer, dews condensing on porous rock in a shallow cave are cooled to freezing point by rapid evaporation.
 

Lilliput April 1956, p.37

Lilliput April 1956 Original Art

 
Lilliput April 1956 Original Art, p.38

Leonard Gibson Cowan  preferred to be known as Charles Gibson Cowan and is described in  Elizabeth David: a biography by Lisa Chaney, (1998) as " actor, producer, journalist, tramp, con-man, beggar, reprobate - a man was to play a crucial part in Elizabeth's life" (p.72)

His actual working class life is quite a tale in itself and if you're interested his autobiography "Loud Report" is of interest but a shorter version can be read in Chaney's biography of Elizabeth David. Quite fascinating! This is the dustjacket version of David's life, including her "pacifist lover":

Born in 1913, Elizabeth David was one of four daughters of Rupert Gwynne, a Conservative MP. Although her childhood was conventional enough, the inferior quality of Elizabeth's childhood fare acted as a gauge against which she was to set her heart, her intellect and her pen.

At twenty-six, failure on the stage encouraged Elizabeth to abandon England in a yacht [the Evelyn Hope] with her pacifist lover on a voyage which would prove to be the defining event of her life. Stranded in the south of France when war broke out, she met the writer Norman Douglas, whose friendship helped clarify her style and objectives for much of the rest of her life.

Her escape from France led to capture, imprisonment and eventually life on a Greek island, until evacuation just in advance of the invading German army. In Egypt for the last four years of the war, as librarian for the Ministry of Information, work and socializing were hectic and Elizabeth became part of an artistic and literary set which included Lawrence Durrell, Patrick Leigh Fermor and Olivia Manning. On return to England via Delhi and a marriage destined to fail, the writing Elizabeth had thought about for so long finally crystallized as a reaction to her ration-blighted homeland in an outpouring of longing for the sun-drenched Mediterranean lands she had lost.

GIBSON COWAN  BOOKS

  • The Last Plays of Maxim Gorki (adapted by Gibson-Cowan), London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1937
  • Loud Report, London: M. Joseph Ltd, [1938]
  • The Voyage of the Evelyn Hope, London: Cresset Press, 1946
  • The Odyssey of Mister Man, New York:Norton, 1951
  • The Log of the Pelican, London: Cresset Press, 1952 

GIBSON COWAN  MAGAZINES

  • The Traveller’s Tale, Lilliput December 1951/January 1952 (illustrated by David Langdon)
  • What It Feels Like to Shoot a Rapid, Lilliput April/May 1952 (illustrated by Raymond Sheppard)
  • Coral, Lilliput September/October 1952 (illustrated by Reg Gray)
  • Going Over Niagara (with Jean Lussier), Lilliput November/December 1952 (illustrated by Raymond Sheppard)
  • Avalanche, Lilliput April/May 1953 (illustrated by Raymond Sheppard)
  • Initiation, Lilliput January/February 1954 (unseen)
  • On Your Own, Lilliput July 1954 (illustrated by Raymond Sheppard)
  • The Fire, Lilliput September 1955 (illustrated by Raymond Sheppard)
  • Jumping a Crocodile, Lilliput October 1955 (illustrated by Raymond Sheppard)
  • Lost in a Volcano, Lilliput April 1956 (illustrated by Raymond Sheppard)
  • Outlaws of Cyprus, Lilliput May 1957 (illustrated by Koolman)
  • Why I Always Take It Neat, Lilliput July 1957 (illustrated by Thelwell)

Various newspaper articles were found too



Friday 19 January 2024

Raymond Sheppard illustrates Lilliput stories

 

Lilliput September-October 1951
"The birth of a berg" by James Fisher

So here we are in the thirteenth year of this blog! Unbelievable, but I'm so happy to see Raymond Sheppard's name and work better known than when I started.

In August I showed you Brian Marks' fantastic artwork including the opening double-page spread for "The birth of a berg" written by James Fisher. If I had not been so excited I might have remembered to include the above illustration of two seal heads which completes that story's illustrations. So there that's that done.

Let's move onto  covering some more Lilliput illustrations. 

 "Half a ton of tail"

Lilliput April-May 1951 p.47
"Half a ton of tail"

Lilliput (April-May 1951) contains a story "Half a ton of tail" by Charles Osborne. the story's sub-title tells you all you need to know: "Hunting the Basking Shark off the coast of Galway". The two illustrations accompanying the story are 1) of a basking Shark and 2) three men in a boat with the Basking Shark bumping their boat.

Lilliput April-May 1951 p.49
"Half a ton of tail"

This looks to be the only piece by Osborne in Lilliput and looking at the General Fiction Magazine Index, their entry points to Charles Thomas Osborne - who the Guardian, in his obituary, called "Author, poet, biographer and theatre critic who was literature director of the Arts Council of Great Britain" (Wed 18 Oct 2017). The AusLit site has a piece on Charles Osborne, who 

"studied music in Brisbane and Melbourne and worked as a music and literary journalist as well as an actor. After moving to England in 1953, he became the assistant editor of London Magazine from 1958 to 1966, and was the literature director of the Arts Council of Great Britain from 1971 to 1986."

The Australian was born in 1927 in Brisbane and died at the age of 89 in 2017. Read more on Wikipedia. I do not often criticise Sheppard's artwork but when I think of a basking shark, I see a wide open mouth, gathering plankton. Knowing he visited London Zoo very often to sketch, I wonder if lack of material to draw from was the problem.  

Original art thanks to Christine Sheppard

 "Springtime in Alberta"

The next item from 1951, is this one page about prairie chickens.

Lilliput May-June 1951 p.86
"Springtime in Alberta"

 There's a paucity of information on the author Kerr Ritchie who wrote this short singular piece "Springtime in Alberta" in Lilliput. He doesn't appear in the Library of Congress or Library and Archives Canada!

Wikipedia can show you the mating ritual of prairie chickens and tell you more of the bird. But to make up for this lack of information here's the original artwork owned by Christine Sheppard.
 

Original Art

"The Whirling Dervishes"

Original Art (p.39) "an Oriental King Lear"

In the issue dated June-July 1951 J. Lavrin writes about "The Whirling Dervishes", a term I was very familiar with, but had to admit knew nothing! This was Janko Lavrin's only contribution to Lilliput - to my knowledge - even though the author was prolific from the 1920s all the way through to at least the 1970s with many of his works still in print and published in many languages. He was born 10 February 1887 in Krupa, Slovenia and died 13 August 1986 in Fulham, at the age of 99!. He is described as 

"a Slovene novelist, poet, critic, translator, and historian. He was Professor Andrej Jelenc DiCaprio of Slavonic Studies at the University of Nottingham. An enthusiast for psycho-analysis, he wrote what he called 'psycho-critical studies' of Ibsen, Nietzsche and Tolstoy." (Wikipedia)

His Who's Who entry tells us he began as a journalist in Russia, 1910; became a Russian war correspondent, 1915–17. During the War of 1939–45, he was attached to BBC (European service) as broadcaster and language superviser.

Original Art (p.40) The leader

Lavrin tells of wandering in Elbasan, in Albania

"Who is he?" I asked the Albanian who seemed to know everybody and everything in the town of Elbasan. "That fellow? He's a dervish. Chief of the Ruffai. There are a number of sects among our local Mohammedans, but the Ruffai...... 

Instead of finishing the sentence, he only closed his eyes and gave a significant whistle. "If you'd like to see them I could take you there."

Original Art (p.41) The 'victim'
Here the author witnesses the leader who begins a chant that is echoed by others who form a semi-circle around him. Then a bowl was passed from man to man and after smelling the brew the effects begin immediately. An energetic dance and wailing to Allah is followed by one dervish falling to his knees, kissing the leader's bare feet and lying down face upwards, only for the leader to wet his sword blade with saliva, and draw it across the dervish's throat, and "cut into the flesh. One saw the wound distinctly, but there was no blood". As the dance comes to a quieter spell, the leader bends, withdraws the knife, wets his finger and touches the eyelids of the 'victim' who blinks, kisses the leader's feet and rises and joins in the dance. 

Original Art (p.42)The Dervishes
These images are all from the original art which Christine Sheppard still owns. The angles and crops are mine based on my hurried photographs.

 

 

 

 


Monday 18 December 2023

Raymond Sheppard and the Angling Times

Angling Times 10 July 1953 p11
"Harry Hill's 37lb.Tope at Sowley Beach, Hampshire"

Every December I search for anything that connects with Christmas but I'm trying too hard so this time I'm presenting a new Raymond Sheppard find I don't think even his family know about. I'm sure Christine will correct me if I'm wrong. I always love hearing how fellow researchers find new information on their obsessions so let me start by saying, I found this thread as a result of a simple search on British Newspapers Archive. I have trawled it many times for Raymond Sheppard and mainly it includes adverts with his name for books. At least that gives us rough publication dates for books he illustrated. 

But in this case I was amazed to see mention in the Lincolnshire newspaper Boston Guardian.

Boston Guardian 2 September 1953

So now I knew when and where to look to see if I had discovered a new stream (I can't help myself) of information in the Angling Times! The newspaper/magazine started on Friday 10 July 1953 and was founded by Bernard Venables, Howard Marshall and PR Winfrey and the Editor was Colin Wilcock. Was the name of the editorial office just coincidence - 8, Bream Buildings, Chancery Lane, London EC4

AnglingTimes 14 August 1953, p11
"Mr. Pitcher's 3lb 3oz. rudd from the River Thurne, Norfolk"

Venables is famous for being a name associated with angling since 1947 after his post-war comic strip "Mr Crabtree" in Daily Mirror became a very popular strip - turned into a book in 1949. Two million copies sold over the years.  Howard Marshall, a broadcaster poached (sorry!) him to found the Angling Times which began with a sales of 30,000 in the first year and grew to 170,000 in 1962. Before he worked on Angling Times, he had already published "Fish and Fishing", "Fisherman's Testament", and the aforementioned "Mr. Crabtree Goes  Fishing''. As it states in the first issue: 

"Venables early felt almost equal desires to be artist, naturalist and writer. Regularly exhibits at the Royal Academy, is 46, married, has one son Julian, who bears a remarkable resemblance, to Mr. Cherry's friend Jim."

Colin Wilcock, Editor of the "Angling Times," was formerly editor of "Lilliput." and joint, assistant editor of "Picture Post." Writes short stories, radio, two boys' fishing books just published, "Come Fishing With Me," and "Come Fly-fishing With Me." Lives at Walton-on-Thames, is married, aged 34. has son aged four and a half who has caught his first roach, says he likes fishing for gudgeon as much as salmon. Sets up own specimens.

Howard Marshall: Though Personnel and Welfare Officer to one of the largest engineering firms in the country, Howard Marshall is thought of first as a broadcaster. His Coronation commentary from the Abbey will live long in memory. This paper is very much MarshaII's brain-child. A first rate angler, he has long     dreamed of foundling a national angling weekly. Once joined expensive chalk stream club to fish for roach.

John "Tiny" Bennett, the photographer is also mentioned like the three above as having "Hobbies: Fishing"!

AnglingTimes 25 September 1953, p11
"Kenneth Clower's 6.5lb chub from the Hampshire Avon"
Raymond Sheppard's illustrations in the Angling Times used Bernard Venables' format of a comic strip format in creating "True Fishermen's Stories"As it states on the first page of this strip:

The Angling Times introduces something new in fishing journalism. Once each month, artist Raymond Sheppard will visit the scene of a specimen fish's capture. He will record the battle in a way no camera can do. Be sure to let us know when you think it is your turn for him to visit you.

It didn't quite work out that way, as I have not found any more than those illustrated here. It looks as if 1953 was the only year for which he drew for this magazine. The last strip states "From time to time artist Raymond Sheppard visits the scene of the capture of a big fish [etc.]". Venables' strip "Mr. Cherry and Jim" carries on for some years.

AnglingTimes 4 December 1953 p15
"H. Brown's 7.5lb Thames Barbel"

Sheppard also drew some illustrations to accompany short pieces. The first was "Polperro for big shark!" by F. A. Mitchell Hedges, president of the Shark Club of Great Britain.

AnglingTimes 2 October 1953, p.5

AnglingTimes 2 October 1953, p.5

The other one was "Pike - I love the brutes!" by Jack Hargreaves who describes an incident in 1765 at Lillishal Lime Works where a 170lb Pike was caught which several men had to drag out of the water!

Angling Times 6 November 1953, p.5

Angling Times 6 November 1953, p.5

Friday 17 November 2023

Raymond Sheppard and James Houston and Don O'Donnell

Lilliput May-June 1951, p.71

In a previous article I showed Raymond Sheppard's  illustrations for "The Riddle" by James Houston and Don O'Donnell. I thought I'd show the rest of the illustrations accompanying their other stories in Lilliput. Houston was born in Toronto in 1921 and died in 2005 but left a legacy for the Western world - his stories and appreciation of Inuit artworks. I'll say more on that below.

Lilliput May-June 1951, p.72-73
THE OTHER NAME

 "The other name" appeared in Lilliput May-June 1951 and is a tale of the Inuit and how they hunt seal for food and oil. The details are fascinating, how Aglo imitates the seal, popping up his head and then lying on the ice - ensuring the seal feels secure. However things don't go well for the hunters.

Lilliput May-June 1951, p.74
The illustrations show us Aglo throwing his harpoon at a seal; Aglo falling in the icy water with Ivik attempting to catch him and finally Ivik on his return to camp with his sad news, raising his harpoon above his head and taking his responsibility to take Aglo's wife and children and also Aglo's name - he is now Ivik-Aglo. Christine Sheppard still has the artwork for this story which I've added here
"Ivik threw his harpoon"

"Plunged into the icy water"

"Tailpiece for "The Other Name"

THE NEW LAMP

The next one appeared in Lilliput July-August 1951 and was called "The new lamp". We don't have the original artboards for this story, but it follows the adventures of Ivik-Aglo.

 

Lilliput July-August 1951, p.71
This story should really have been published first as we meet Ivik for the first time trying impress a girl who becomes his wife - Rangee. The first image above shows Ivik approaching Rangee's father's camp; the second the courtship discussion and Ivik's finely carved lamp and lastly Ivik's grabbing Rangee. 

Lilliput July-August 1951, p.72-73
Lilliput July-August 1951, p.74
The second image looks strange to me, as if the perspective is angled somewhat. Perhaps Sheppard was trying to imitate a cat's-eye lens?

THE JOURNEY INLAND

This story appeared in Lilliput February-March 1952 and wrongly gives James Houston's writing partner as Don O'Donnel [sic]

Lilliput February-March 1952, p.72

Lilliput February-March 1952, p.73

Lilliput February-March 1952, p.74


The story concerns Tuktu, Ivik-Aglo's father-in-law and how he feels the cold and knows his memories are of earlier times when 'caribou took five days to pass through their camp' and they had enough to eat. He now decides to stay behind as the men go hunting and the women go to help. "He lay back on the sleeping robe and with a long sigh prepared to give up the fight with his lifelong enemy - the cold."

In the original art for p.74 (not shown) where Tuktu is dying it has an editorial addition stating "114" and the original art below for page 72 has "414" - the reproduction sizes expected. The indentation is there for the story title. Notice that the published images above have added colour which I think is because the corresponding pages in Lilliput in this issue are also coloured.

Lilliput February-March 1952, p.72

I can't find any evidence these stories were reprinted from a book [UPDATE: See Below] but the fact the first two above are in the wrong order makes me think they might be. If you know do email me or comment here please. The only connection between these stories and "The Riddle" is the name Ikuma, but I suspect this is coincidence as none of the others are mentioned.

Since my last article mentioning James Archibald Houston, a biography has appeared called "James Houston and the making of Inuit art", by John Ayre and published by McFarland & Company, Inc., 2023 which gives me an opportunity to show Houston to you

The oldest book I could find written by Houston is 1965 - a good 14 years after the appearance of his Lilliput stories mentioned above. The 2006 book James Houston's Treasury of Inuit legends contains the following stories, none of which coincide with the Lilliput stories - except by virtue of being set around the Inuit:  Tiktaliktak (1965); The white archer (1967); Akavak (1968) and Wolf Run (1971). The introduction mentions that he first flew into Inuit country in 1948 (which gives us a good date for the Lilliput stories). I was glancing through the memoirs Houston wrote in 1995 (Confessions of an igloo dweller)  and thought this short summary might be of interest.

These memoirs of James Houston's life in the Canadian Arctic from 1948 to 1962 present a colorful and compelling adventure story of real people living through a time of great change. It is extraordinarily rich material about a fascinating, distant world.
Houston, a young Canadian artist, was on a painting trip to Moose Factory at the south end of Hudson Hay in 1948. A bush pilot friend burst into his room with the news that a medical emergency meant that he could get a free flight into the heart of the eastern Arctic. When they arrived, Houston found himself surrounded by smiling Inuit — short, strong, utterly confident people who wore sealskins and spoke no English. By the time the medical plane was about to leave. Houston had decided to stay.
It was a decision that changed his life, for more than a dozen years he spent his time being educated by those kindly, patient people who became his friends. He slept in their igloos, ate raw fish and seal meat, wore skin clothing, traveled by dog team, hunted walrus, and learned how to build a snowhouse. While doing so, he helped change the North.
Impressed by the natural artistic skills of the people, he encouraged the development of outlets in the South for their work, and helped establish co-ops in the North for Inuit carvers and print-makers. Since that time, after trapping as a way of gaining income began to disappear. Inuit art has brought millions of dollars to its creators, and has affected art galleries around the world.
In the one hundred short chapters that make up this book. James Houston tells about his fascinating and often hilarious adventures in a very different culture. He tells of raising a familv in the Arctic (his sons bursting into tears on being told they were not really Inuit), and of the failure to introduce soccer to a people who refused to look on other humans as opponents. He tells about great characters — Inuit and kallunait — who populated the Arctic in these long-lost days when, as a government go-between, he found himself  grappling with Northern customs that broke Southern laws.
A remarkable, modestly told story by a truly remarkable man.

The biography (obviously written 10 years before he passed away) that appears at the back states:

JAMES HOUSTON, a Canadian author-artist, served with the Toronto Scottish Regiment in World War II, 1940-45, then lived among Inuit of the Canadian Arctic for twelve years as a Northern Service Officer, then as the first Administrator of west Baffin Island, a territory of 65,000 square miles. Widely acknowledged as the prime force in the development of Eskimo Art, he is past chairman of both the American Indian Arts Centre and the Canadian Eskimo Arts Council and a director of the Association on American Indian Affairs. He has been honored with the American Indian and Eskimo Cultural Foundation Award, the 1979 Inuit Kuavati Award of Merit, and is an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Among his writings, The White Dawn has been published in thirty-one editions worldwide. That novel and Ghost Fox. Spirit Wrestler, and Eagle Song have been selections of major book clubs. His last novel, Running West, won the Canadian Authors Association Book of the Year Award. Author and illustrator of more than a dozen children's books, he is the only person to have won the Canadian Library Association Book of the Year Award three times. He has also written screenplays for feature films, has created numerous documentaries, and continues to lecture widely.
Mr. Houston's drawings, paintings, and sculptures are internationally represented in many museums and private collections. He is Master Designer for Steuben Glass. He created the seventy-foot-high central sculpture in the Glenbow-Alberta Art Museum.
Houston, now a dual citizen of Canada and the United States, and his wife, Alice, divide the year between a colonial privateer's house in New England and a writing retreat on the bank of a salmon river on the Queen Charlotte Islands in British Columbia, a few miles south of Alaska, where he has written many of these memoirs.

I still can't find much on his writing partner, which is a shame, but what a fascinating man James Houston was. 


UPDATE: 20 November 2023

John Wigmans found an article in Dutch which included a photo of Houston and wife but more importantly, he discovered that one of the four short stories was mentioned in the above biography. He sent me this screenshot and interestingly it mentions two of the four Lilliput stories (The New lamp plus "The Riddle), and that "[with] Don O'Donnell, he wrote a series of four stories for the Montreal weekend supplement "The Standard [i.e. I presume the Montreal Standard )

"James Houston and the making of Inuit art", by John Ayre, p.40
Thanks John.