Discussion:
R.I.P. Ronni Solbert, 96, in June (illustrator of Jean Merrill's "The Pushcart War")
(too old to reply)
Lenona
2022-07-03 02:39:23 UTC
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Strangely, there's no real obit yet - as opposed to this tiny notice.

She died in Randolph, Vermont.

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/vnews/name/ronni-solbert-obituary?id=35194674

About "The Pushcart War":

"The Pushcart War is a popular children's novel by the American writer Jean Merrill, illustrated by Ronni Solbert[1] and first published by W. R. Scott in 1964. It is Merrill's best known work.[1] The story is written in the style of a historical report from the future, looking back at the events of a "war" that occurred a decade earlier on the streets of New York City between trucking companies and pushcart owners who use pea shooters as weapons to disrupt the trucks."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronni_Solbert

https://groups.google.com/g/rec.arts.books.childrens/c/aZLenFMCom0/m/BPvSZ_zgAAAJ
(birthday post from 2015, reader reviews, long booklist, and part of an interview from 2014 about the 50th anniversary of "The Pushcart War")

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=ronni+solbert+&tbm=isch
(book covers)

In particular, I love "Shan's Lucky Knife"(1960), about a country boy who outwits a city-slicker con artist. It takes place in Myanmar. (Of course, in the book, the name is Burma.)

Merrill dedicated "The Superlative Horse: A Tale of Ancient China" to Solbert.

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22ronni+solbert%22&source=lnms&tbm=vid&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjinsSH2Nv4AhWBhYkEHXGcCvMQ_AUoA3oECAIQBQ&biw=1366&bih=649&dpr=1
(a few videos)
Lenona
2022-07-25 13:11:00 UTC
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Post by Lenona
Strangely, there's no real obit yet - as opposed to this tiny notice.
Finally!

https://www.dailyexpertnews.com/art-culture/books/childrens-book-illustrator-ronni-solbert-dies-aged-96/
(with photo from 1959)

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/21/books/ronni-solbert-dead.html

Oddly, the two (by different writers, supposedly) were both published on July 21 and are near-identical. (The NYT obit appeared in the hard copy on the 24th.)

Clearly, one of the writers is plagiarizing.

https://www.timesargus.com/obituaries/ronni-solbert/article_bfcb26f5-e1fd-51d2-9fca-2418635f2c03.html
(this mentions a terrible fire that the other ones didn't)

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