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John Bianchi, 69, in April 2017 (writer/illustrator of "Bungalo Boys" series, 1980s-1990s)
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leno...@yahoo.com
Feb 27, 2020, 8:06:15 PM2/27/20
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(Not to be confused with the 67-year-old scientist.)
Born in Rochester, New York, he lived in Ottawa, Canada for years as an adult but moved to Tucson, Arizona in 1993.
http://bungalobooks.com/pdfs/John_Bianchi_death.pdf
(includes booklist)
First paragraphs:
Bungalo Books is sad to announce that John Bianchi passed away in Tucson, AZ, after a brief illness on Friday April 21. He was 69 years old. As an illustrator, Mr. Bianchi came to national attention for his large-nosed cartoon characters that appeared by the hundreds in Harrowsmith magazine starting in the late 1970s. His humorous drawings reflected his own back-to-the-land challenges (including beekeeping, woodcutting and house renovations) in the Lanark County village of Macdonalds Corners.
With the launch of Harrowsmith’s sister publication, Equinox in 1982, he expanded his repertoire to include scientific illustration. Mr. Bianchi also provided illustrations for the company’s series of bestselling astronomy books by Terence Dickinson. (Exploring the Night Sky, 1987. Exploring the Day Sky, 1988.)
By the mid-1980s, Mr. Bianchi started illustrating children’s picture books for Groundwood Books. But his dream was to illustrate his own stories. When he couldn’t find a publisher for his first book – a cowboy spoof that featured an inept family of brothers known as the Bungalo Boys — he co-founded his own company.
Bungalo Books’ first title was The Last of the Tree Ranchers. It became a surprise success, in part thanks to the marketing efforts of Lionel Koffler at Firefly Books. Over the next 16 years, Mr. Bianchi and his partner, editor/publisher/author Frank B. Edwards created 38 children’s books together. Their sales reached more than 2 million copies by the time the company (and its Pokeweed Press imprint) stopped creating new work in 2007.
At the time Bungalo Books launched, Mr. Edwards was the editorial director of Harrowsmith magazine’s Camden House Books and the pair ran their small company as a part time venture. It became a full-time occupation by 1989...
(snip)
http://bungalobooks.com/authors/john-bianchi/
Excerpt:
...In 1986, he created a whacky kids book about a family of bumbling cowboys known as the Bungalo Boys. When he couldn’t find a publisher for his unusual story (the boys rode trees instead of horses and feuded with the Beaver Gang, a band of herbaceous tree rustlers), he joined Frank B. Edwards in the launch of Bungalo Books. Edwards had been his editor at both Harrowsmith and Equinox before moving to the magazines’ book publishing arm...
https://www.google.com/search?q=illustrator++john+bianchi&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwit_o3MhfPnAhUMU98KHYeKAeIQ_AUoAXoECBIQAw&biw=2048&bih=1044&dpr=2
(book covers)
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/225705.John_Bianchi
(reader reviews)
https://billingsgazette.com/news/local/illustrator-uses-the-power-of-art-to-promote-literacy/article_d3faf1b4-9ebf-5919-b8dd-2d87154220e7.html
(interview from 2002)
Lenona.
Born in Rochester, New York, he lived in Ottawa, Canada for years as an adult but moved to Tucson, Arizona in 1993.
http://bungalobooks.com/pdfs/John_Bianchi_death.pdf
(includes booklist)
First paragraphs:
Bungalo Books is sad to announce that John Bianchi passed away in Tucson, AZ, after a brief illness on Friday April 21. He was 69 years old. As an illustrator, Mr. Bianchi came to national attention for his large-nosed cartoon characters that appeared by the hundreds in Harrowsmith magazine starting in the late 1970s. His humorous drawings reflected his own back-to-the-land challenges (including beekeeping, woodcutting and house renovations) in the Lanark County village of Macdonalds Corners.
With the launch of Harrowsmith’s sister publication, Equinox in 1982, he expanded his repertoire to include scientific illustration. Mr. Bianchi also provided illustrations for the company’s series of bestselling astronomy books by Terence Dickinson. (Exploring the Night Sky, 1987. Exploring the Day Sky, 1988.)
By the mid-1980s, Mr. Bianchi started illustrating children’s picture books for Groundwood Books. But his dream was to illustrate his own stories. When he couldn’t find a publisher for his first book – a cowboy spoof that featured an inept family of brothers known as the Bungalo Boys — he co-founded his own company.
Bungalo Books’ first title was The Last of the Tree Ranchers. It became a surprise success, in part thanks to the marketing efforts of Lionel Koffler at Firefly Books. Over the next 16 years, Mr. Bianchi and his partner, editor/publisher/author Frank B. Edwards created 38 children’s books together. Their sales reached more than 2 million copies by the time the company (and its Pokeweed Press imprint) stopped creating new work in 2007.
At the time Bungalo Books launched, Mr. Edwards was the editorial director of Harrowsmith magazine’s Camden House Books and the pair ran their small company as a part time venture. It became a full-time occupation by 1989...
(snip)
http://bungalobooks.com/authors/john-bianchi/
Excerpt:
...In 1986, he created a whacky kids book about a family of bumbling cowboys known as the Bungalo Boys. When he couldn’t find a publisher for his unusual story (the boys rode trees instead of horses and feuded with the Beaver Gang, a band of herbaceous tree rustlers), he joined Frank B. Edwards in the launch of Bungalo Books. Edwards had been his editor at both Harrowsmith and Equinox before moving to the magazines’ book publishing arm...
https://www.google.com/search?q=illustrator++john+bianchi&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwit_o3MhfPnAhUMU98KHYeKAeIQ_AUoAXoECBIQAw&biw=2048&bih=1044&dpr=2
(book covers)
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/225705.John_Bianchi
(reader reviews)
https://billingsgazette.com/news/local/illustrator-uses-the-power-of-art-to-promote-literacy/article_d3faf1b4-9ebf-5919-b8dd-2d87154220e7.html
(interview from 2002)
Lenona.
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