Lita Judge and I met at a NESCBWI illustrators’ day at Simmons College 2003. We happen to sit next to each other in a large lecture hall. Sheepishly, I showed her my sketch book. (I didn’t have a portfolio yet.) Sheepishly, she showed me her portfolio. She shouldn’t have been reticent. The pen and ink line was light and free, her watercolor work rich and lovely, and her characters jumped off the page. “Oh my,” I said, “these are really good.” I can’t remember exactly, but I’m sure Lita’s response was modest and self-deprecating.
A couple years later, when she told me she had landed a deal with Hyperion (yes made it past the gate guarded by that famous mouse) I was not at all surprised. Lita was, of course, modest. The truly talented, hard workers always are.
I am so pleased to be able to bring you an interview with Lita Judge author and illustrator of One Thousand Tracings: Healing the Wounds of World War II (this will be linked to amazon), to be released this Sunday, July 1st by Hyperion. I am Jew who grew up hearing of the horrors of the Holocaust, but no one had ever related to me the poverty that followed. Lita’s book opened my eyes to another awful effect of that horrific period of time. I hope you’ll come back on July 2nd
Creative Chaos 