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R.I.P. Larry Kettelkamp, 90, in Oct. ("Spooky Magic," 1955)
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Lenona
Dec 14, 2023, 3:42:46 PM12/14/23
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I knew him for the 1955 book "Spooky Magic." (It's about performing magic tricks for your friends.) Chances are you've seen it too - if you're over a certain age. One trick was about how to pull your thumb off.
https://www.tributearchive.com/obituaries/29356748/larry-d-kettelkamp
(with photo - it's a long obit)
Most of it:
Larry Dale Kettelkamp, 90, of Cranbury, NJ, a quintessential renaissance man, passed away unexpectedly at home on October 1, 2023, with his beloved wife Florence close by.
Larry and Florence met while at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign where Larry was an Art major and Florence a Music Education major. They married in 1954, and lived in Maryland, Urbana, IL, and Honesdale, PA prior to moving to Cranbury in 1966. New Jersey was the last stop on a journey that included a child born in each of the states in which they lived. Larry’s life was richly filled with many unique twists and turns.
Larry was born in Harvey, Illinois to his parents, Gilbert and Ona (nee Webb). He grew up with his sister Karlyn (Ford), who was four years younger, in Urbana, IL where the family had moved when Gilbert became a Professor of Education at the University of Illinois. His mother Ona was a homemaker and private reading tutor. It was very early on that Larry discovered the arts. When he was 5 years old his 15-year-old next-door neighbor, who was to become a well-regarded composer, recognized Larry’s musical gifts. He realized that Larry had “perfect pitch” and insisted on giving him piano lessons. Larry graduated from University Laboratory High School in Urbana after precociously skipping two grades in school. He matriculated at the University of Illinois, earning a B.A. as a Fine and Applied Arts major. While in college, Larry sang in the choir at the Wesley Methodist Church on campus, where he met and fell in love with a fellow chorister, Florence Goy, a music education major who had a wonderful soprano voice. He was also a member of Alpha Kappa Lambda in college where he enjoyed arranging and singing songs with his fraternity brothers, especially with his close high school friend and future Nobel laureate Hamilton O. Smith.
After graduating from the U of I Larry deferred starting a post ROTC army commitment spending a year studying illustration at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY while waiting for Florence to graduate. After college, they were married on June 6, 1954, and Larry served for two years as a lieutenant ASA, first in Massachusetts and then Maryland.
Larry began his professional life while still in college where during the summer following his junior year he illustrated a middle school level book, The Sun, authored by science faculty member Herbert Zim. After his military commitment, Larry and Flo returned to Urbana, with their newborn child Lauren Lynn and Larry continued illustrating books for Zim while working as a staff artist at Our Wonderful World encyclopedia.
Realizing that he could write the informational children’s books he had been illustrating, Larry successfully proposed that idea to Prentice Hall publishing. It was the start of a long illustrious career as an author/illustrator of over 35 informational trade books for juniors and young adults. The subject matter of his books focused on subjects that piqued his interest ranging from poltergeists, to magic, to optical illusions. His books were to become ubiquitous in school libraries throughout the U.S. as well as staples of the ever-popular school book fairs.
While building his writing career Larry took a position with Highlights for Children magazine in Honesdale, PA where the family, which now included a son Keith Allan, moved in 1961. A “highlight” of Larry’s tenure at the popular dental waiting room fixture magazine, were numerous iterations of the featured hidden picture that appeared in each edition. It was also here that the family expanded to include Karl William.
In 1966, seeking to be closer to book research resources in New York and Philadelphia, Larry and Flo moved to Cranbury, NJ. The town was the suggestion of Larry’s first piano teacher and friend the music composer David Kraehenbuehl who had made his home there for similar reasons. It was in Cranbury that Larry and Flo welcomed their fourth child Marianne. It was also in Cranbury that Larry entered a new phase of his career, music. Larry was accomplished at piano, organ, guitar, recorder, and flute performance as well as music composition. Larry’s prolific teaching and performance endeavors included 23 years as organist and choir director at the Cranbury Methodist church, special organist at Jamesburg Presbyterian church, co-founder of The Cranbury Consort, an early American music performing group, private lessons on guitar and flute in his studio, publication of guitar pedagogy books, and many years as Art teacher at the Cranbury Elementary School. Larry was also employed as a graphic design instructor at Rider University, an Editor at Summy Birchard music publishing, and a massage therapy instructor at Mercer County Community College.
Throughout his life, Larry was an inveterate writer of limericks. It is with great fondness that his family and friends remember his verse, which ranged from the romantic to the ribald.
Florence (nee Goy) and family are deeply sadden by his passing. For nearly seventy years, Larry and Florence have shared with their family a love for music, art, and faith. Music flowed through their house and was carried on by their children and grandchildren. Larry was an author, an artist, a theorist, and an incredibly curious man. He lived a full, robust life, on his terms, doing what he loved and what he found most interesting. We hope his theories and conjectures about the ever after have been confirmed...
(snip)
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1024&bih=571&oq=%22larry+kettelkamp%22++books&gs_l=img.3...750.750.0.1141.1.1.0.0.0.0.47.47.1.1.0...0.0...1ac.1.11.img.fFfTkcJhY_Q&q=%22larry%20kettelkamp%22%20books
(book covers)
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/search/books/?q=larry%20kettelkamp&sf=t
(27 Kirkus reviews)
https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/39186.Larry_Kettelkamp
(reader reviews)
WRITINGS BY THE AUTHOR:
ALL SELF-ILLUSTRATED; ALL PUBLISHED BY MORROW
•Magic Made Easy, 1954, revised edition, 1981.
•Spooky Magic, 1955.
•The Magic of Sound, 1956, revised edition, 1982.
•Shadows, 1957.
•Singing Strings, 1958.
•Kites, 1959.
•Drums, Rattles and Bells, 1960.
•Gliders, 1961.
•Flutes, Whistles and Reeds, 1962.
•Puzzle Patterns, 1963.
•Horns, 1964.
•Spinning Tops, 1966.
•Song, Speech and Ventriloquism, 1967.
•Dreams, 1968.
•Haunted Houses, 1969.
•Sixth Sense, 1970.
•Investigating UFOs, 1971.
•Religions East and West, 1972.
•Astrology: Wisdom of the Stars, 1973.
•Tricks of Eye and Mind: The Story of Optical Illusion, 1974.
•Hypnosis: The Wakeful Sleep, 1975.
•A Partnership of Mind and Body: Biofeedback, 1976.
•Investigating Psychics: Five Life Histories, 1977.
•The Healing Arts, 1978.
•Mischievous Ghosts: The Poltergeist and PK, 1980.
•Electronic Musical Instruments: What They Do, How They Work, 1984.
•Modern Sports Science, 1986.
•Computer Graphics: How it Works, What it Does, 1989.
•Living in Space, 1993.
•ETs and UFOs: Are They Real? 1996.
OTHER
•Spirals, Prentice-Hall, 1964.
•Your Marvelous Mind, Westminster, 1980.
•Starter Solos for Classic Guitar, Bookarts Associates, 1984.
•Intermediate Etudes for Classic Guitar, Bookarts Associates, 1984.
•Also author of The Dreaming Mind, 1975, and Lasers: The Miracle Light, 1979.
•The Human Brain, Enslow, 1986.
•Bill Cosby: Family Funny Man, J. Messner, 1987.
•High Tech for the Handicapped: New Ways to Hear, See, Talk, and Walk, Enslow, 1991.
ILLUSTRATOR
•Herbert S. Zim, The Sun, Morrow, 1953, new edition with new illustrations, 1975.
•Zim, Parrakeets, Morrow, 1953.
•Some Are Small, Garrard, 1959.
•When I Have a House, Guideways, 1961.
•Explorations in Chemistry, Highlights for Children, 1967.
https://www.tributearchive.com/obituaries/29356748/larry-d-kettelkamp
(with photo - it's a long obit)
Most of it:
Larry Dale Kettelkamp, 90, of Cranbury, NJ, a quintessential renaissance man, passed away unexpectedly at home on October 1, 2023, with his beloved wife Florence close by.
Larry and Florence met while at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign where Larry was an Art major and Florence a Music Education major. They married in 1954, and lived in Maryland, Urbana, IL, and Honesdale, PA prior to moving to Cranbury in 1966. New Jersey was the last stop on a journey that included a child born in each of the states in which they lived. Larry’s life was richly filled with many unique twists and turns.
Larry was born in Harvey, Illinois to his parents, Gilbert and Ona (nee Webb). He grew up with his sister Karlyn (Ford), who was four years younger, in Urbana, IL where the family had moved when Gilbert became a Professor of Education at the University of Illinois. His mother Ona was a homemaker and private reading tutor. It was very early on that Larry discovered the arts. When he was 5 years old his 15-year-old next-door neighbor, who was to become a well-regarded composer, recognized Larry’s musical gifts. He realized that Larry had “perfect pitch” and insisted on giving him piano lessons. Larry graduated from University Laboratory High School in Urbana after precociously skipping two grades in school. He matriculated at the University of Illinois, earning a B.A. as a Fine and Applied Arts major. While in college, Larry sang in the choir at the Wesley Methodist Church on campus, where he met and fell in love with a fellow chorister, Florence Goy, a music education major who had a wonderful soprano voice. He was also a member of Alpha Kappa Lambda in college where he enjoyed arranging and singing songs with his fraternity brothers, especially with his close high school friend and future Nobel laureate Hamilton O. Smith.
After graduating from the U of I Larry deferred starting a post ROTC army commitment spending a year studying illustration at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY while waiting for Florence to graduate. After college, they were married on June 6, 1954, and Larry served for two years as a lieutenant ASA, first in Massachusetts and then Maryland.
Larry began his professional life while still in college where during the summer following his junior year he illustrated a middle school level book, The Sun, authored by science faculty member Herbert Zim. After his military commitment, Larry and Flo returned to Urbana, with their newborn child Lauren Lynn and Larry continued illustrating books for Zim while working as a staff artist at Our Wonderful World encyclopedia.
Realizing that he could write the informational children’s books he had been illustrating, Larry successfully proposed that idea to Prentice Hall publishing. It was the start of a long illustrious career as an author/illustrator of over 35 informational trade books for juniors and young adults. The subject matter of his books focused on subjects that piqued his interest ranging from poltergeists, to magic, to optical illusions. His books were to become ubiquitous in school libraries throughout the U.S. as well as staples of the ever-popular school book fairs.
While building his writing career Larry took a position with Highlights for Children magazine in Honesdale, PA where the family, which now included a son Keith Allan, moved in 1961. A “highlight” of Larry’s tenure at the popular dental waiting room fixture magazine, were numerous iterations of the featured hidden picture that appeared in each edition. It was also here that the family expanded to include Karl William.
In 1966, seeking to be closer to book research resources in New York and Philadelphia, Larry and Flo moved to Cranbury, NJ. The town was the suggestion of Larry’s first piano teacher and friend the music composer David Kraehenbuehl who had made his home there for similar reasons. It was in Cranbury that Larry and Flo welcomed their fourth child Marianne. It was also in Cranbury that Larry entered a new phase of his career, music. Larry was accomplished at piano, organ, guitar, recorder, and flute performance as well as music composition. Larry’s prolific teaching and performance endeavors included 23 years as organist and choir director at the Cranbury Methodist church, special organist at Jamesburg Presbyterian church, co-founder of The Cranbury Consort, an early American music performing group, private lessons on guitar and flute in his studio, publication of guitar pedagogy books, and many years as Art teacher at the Cranbury Elementary School. Larry was also employed as a graphic design instructor at Rider University, an Editor at Summy Birchard music publishing, and a massage therapy instructor at Mercer County Community College.
Throughout his life, Larry was an inveterate writer of limericks. It is with great fondness that his family and friends remember his verse, which ranged from the romantic to the ribald.
Florence (nee Goy) and family are deeply sadden by his passing. For nearly seventy years, Larry and Florence have shared with their family a love for music, art, and faith. Music flowed through their house and was carried on by their children and grandchildren. Larry was an author, an artist, a theorist, and an incredibly curious man. He lived a full, robust life, on his terms, doing what he loved and what he found most interesting. We hope his theories and conjectures about the ever after have been confirmed...
(snip)
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1024&bih=571&oq=%22larry+kettelkamp%22++books&gs_l=img.3...750.750.0.1141.1.1.0.0.0.0.47.47.1.1.0...0.0...1ac.1.11.img.fFfTkcJhY_Q&q=%22larry%20kettelkamp%22%20books
(book covers)
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/search/books/?q=larry%20kettelkamp&sf=t
(27 Kirkus reviews)
https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/39186.Larry_Kettelkamp
(reader reviews)
WRITINGS BY THE AUTHOR:
ALL SELF-ILLUSTRATED; ALL PUBLISHED BY MORROW
•Magic Made Easy, 1954, revised edition, 1981.
•Spooky Magic, 1955.
•The Magic of Sound, 1956, revised edition, 1982.
•Shadows, 1957.
•Singing Strings, 1958.
•Kites, 1959.
•Drums, Rattles and Bells, 1960.
•Gliders, 1961.
•Flutes, Whistles and Reeds, 1962.
•Puzzle Patterns, 1963.
•Horns, 1964.
•Spinning Tops, 1966.
•Song, Speech and Ventriloquism, 1967.
•Dreams, 1968.
•Haunted Houses, 1969.
•Sixth Sense, 1970.
•Investigating UFOs, 1971.
•Religions East and West, 1972.
•Astrology: Wisdom of the Stars, 1973.
•Tricks of Eye and Mind: The Story of Optical Illusion, 1974.
•Hypnosis: The Wakeful Sleep, 1975.
•A Partnership of Mind and Body: Biofeedback, 1976.
•Investigating Psychics: Five Life Histories, 1977.
•The Healing Arts, 1978.
•Mischievous Ghosts: The Poltergeist and PK, 1980.
•Electronic Musical Instruments: What They Do, How They Work, 1984.
•Modern Sports Science, 1986.
•Computer Graphics: How it Works, What it Does, 1989.
•Living in Space, 1993.
•ETs and UFOs: Are They Real? 1996.
OTHER
•Spirals, Prentice-Hall, 1964.
•Your Marvelous Mind, Westminster, 1980.
•Starter Solos for Classic Guitar, Bookarts Associates, 1984.
•Intermediate Etudes for Classic Guitar, Bookarts Associates, 1984.
•Also author of The Dreaming Mind, 1975, and Lasers: The Miracle Light, 1979.
•The Human Brain, Enslow, 1986.
•Bill Cosby: Family Funny Man, J. Messner, 1987.
•High Tech for the Handicapped: New Ways to Hear, See, Talk, and Walk, Enslow, 1991.
ILLUSTRATOR
•Herbert S. Zim, The Sun, Morrow, 1953, new edition with new illustrations, 1975.
•Zim, Parrakeets, Morrow, 1953.
•Some Are Small, Garrard, 1959.
•When I Have a House, Guideways, 1961.
•Explorations in Chemistry, Highlights for Children, 1967.
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