Edith Thacher Hurd was born in Missouri on September 13, 1910. She married Clement Hurd in 1939. They became one of children’s literature’s best-known teams, working on picture books like Johnny Lion’s Book (1965) and Wilson’s World (1971).
After the couple moved to Vermont, their son, Thacher, was born in 1949. Clem and Posey, as their friends called them, created a wonderful environment for their young son on their Vermont farm, a place that Leonard Weisgard called the Peaceable Kingdom. Thacher Hurd grew up to carry on his parents’ legacy as a picture book illustrator and writer.
In 1939, Clement Hurd was assigned by Margaret Wise Brown to illustrate Gertrude Stein’s book, The World is Round. In 1986, Edith Thacher Hurd wrote a companion volume, The World is Not Flat, a memoir of the collaboration between Stein and Clement Hurd.
A few of her many books include The Cat from Telegraph Hill, The Day the Sun Danced, Two Little Gardeners, No Funny Business, Come and Have Fun, The So-So Cat, Mr. Charlie’s Pet Shop, and Starfish.
— Vicki Palmquist