“Just Jerry: How Drawing Shaped My Life”
By Jerry Pinkney
(146 pages, Memoir – Juvenile Nonfiction 2023)
When Caldecott-winning illustrator Jerry Pinkney died in 2021 he left behind the mostly completed manuscript for this memoir, but only the sketches for his planned illustrations. Pinkney spent years writing his story, recalling his childhood in Philadelphia in the 1940’s and 50’s and the many people in his family and community who encouraged him and his art.
Pinkney’s dyslexia wasn’t diagnosed until many years after his formal education ended, but caring teachers recognized that he wasn’t developmentally challenged despite his struggles with reading and math. One teacher particularly found a way for him to participate in her class through his artwork. His talent was recognized from his elementary years by all around him, though he tells us that no one in his family had any idea how a person could make a living by drawing.
In middle school he began selling newspapers, drawing pictures when business was slow. His boss noticed and introduced Pinkney to John Liney, a professional cartoonist who drew the Herman comic for over 40 years. Liney encouraged Pinkney, who eventually attended the Murrell Dobbins Vocational High School and the Philadelphia Museum School of Art, where he studied commercial and graphic arts, and apprenticed with Black artist Samuel Brown.
The warmth and support of his community enabled Pinkney to pursue a path neither he nor his parents had ever imagined. Posthumously, his family and editors continued that encouragement by seeing this project through to publication. As a nod to his troubles with dyslexia, the book is printed in a font that is easier for dyslexics to read.
Reading this book put a smile on my face. It was wonderful to see how so many people supported the young Jerry, and the gratitude the adult artist so clearly felt. This is a heartfelt book that reminds us all to follow our hearts and our talents to achieve our dreams – and to support the dreams of others, too.
Visit Concord Public Library at http://www.concordpubliclibrary.net
Julia Miller
