Yesterday was the birthday of the mighty N.C. Wyeth. Despite my not having done a blog entry about the man for quite a long time, I was going to give the occasion a pass. However, I saw a very cool post on the Book of Faces that made me change my mind.

A Wyeth fan by the name of Rick Sund posted this:

“In 1931, N.C.Wyeth was kind enough to send this letter to a small boy, Teddy. According to the story, Teddy had made a drawing of N.C.'s King Arthur that he copied from the cover of the book of King Arthur. Teddy's mother sent the drawing to N.C.Wyeth. On the actual drawing itself ( as shown ), N.C.wrote this note of encouragement to Teddy.”

For those who have trouble reading the inscription, here it is:

“My dear Teddy,
Just a brief note to send my best wishes and success in your art career, The drawings your mother sent are superb for a child of your age.
with cordial regards,
NC Wyeth February 9, 1931”

Now, back to Mr. Sund:

“The other image here is N.C.'s painting for the book's [title page]. N.C.Wyeth loved and nurtured his own and others' children. His love translated into the powerful paintings he did for children's books. I obtained this note from the seller for my Wyeth private collection.”

How cool is that? Wyeth was forty-eight years old and at the height of his career. He was also a very busy man. N.C.'s output, even in his later years, was pretty amazing. I could post a Wyeth painting every day and I wouldn't run out for almost ten years. In the 1930s, he was doing paintings for book publishers and ad companies, murals for public and private buildings and who-knows-what else. Plus, he had a family and a large property to attend to.

In other words, what happened in 1931 was like some kid writing to Frank Frazetta in 1980, only moreso. Despite all of his obligations and worries, Wyeth personally wrote back, encouraging that boy. Who knows how that affected little Teddy? I would bet it was something he never forgot. N.C. sending that reply and encouraging that child is something that should be remembered.

Raise a glass in honor of the great N.C. Wyeth, DMR Books readers. He was a better man than he needed to be.

As a patented DMR Books Blog Bonus, here is Wyeth's cover for 1917's The Boy’s King Arthur. It will have to do until my write-up on Boorman's Excalibur gets done.