Happy 80th, Les Gray! ("Highlights" magazine illustrator)

[Lenona]

He lives in San Luis Obispo, California. (Not, of course, to be
confused with the late British lead singer for Mud, who was also much
younger!)

He created the mouse character, Link, for "Highlights."

Also an illustrator for several supplementary readers and the
magazines "Jack & Jill," "Humpty Dumpty," and "Ranger Rick's."

Album covers he's done include those of "Peter Pan," "Willy Wonka and
the Chocolate Factory," "Winnie the Pooh," and "The Wizard of Oz."

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3097/3095009614_2093d85614.jpg?v=0
("Sesame Street" album cover)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?VISuperSize&item=110384766319
(Willy Wonka - if this doesn't work, click on the next link and then
enlarge the photo - it's REALLY big when you do)

http://cgi.ebay.com/Willy-Wonka-The-Chocolate-Factory-33-LP-1974_W0QQitemZ110384766319QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMusic_on_Vinyl?hash=item19b371dd6f&_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

http://www.zoominfo.com/people/Gray_Les_900296911.aspx
(brief bio)

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Dear+readers-a0128364537
(letter about Gray's mouse drawings)

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&um=1&sa=1&q=les+gray+%22highlights+for+children%22+&btnG=Search+images
(some artwork)

http://www.highlightsteachers.com/archives/printandread_stories/buster_and_the_toboggan_by_sandra_beswetherick_illustrated_by_les_gray.html
(story with Gray's pictures)

http://vi.sualize.us/view/942731fbe1c5e81079e5b2d7b20271cb/
(1984 Highlights Halloween picture)

http://inkwellarthouse.com/images/products/zoom_A004LGRAY036.jpg
(1982 Great Gumshoe picture in B&W)

WRITINGS (partial list):

The Mystery of Skull Cap Island, 1958

The Brownie Scout Handbook, 1963.

Pinocchio by Collodi, 1968.

Happy Helper One-Two-Three 1971

Famous Fairy Tales - Favorite Stories from the Land of Once-Upon-a-
Time 1971

The Big Tidy-up by Norah Smaridge, 1971 (this has 59 reviews)

Elephant's Birthday Party by Wright, Betty Ren, Wylie, Joanne, 1972

Little Red Riding Hood retold by Mabel Watts, 1972

Little Cub and the Bees' Nest by JoAnne Nelson 1974

Ten Red Ants by JoAnne Nelson, 1974

Old Mr. Mack by JoAnne Nelson, 1974

Buttons the Clown by JoAnne Nelson, 1974

Piggy Wiglet and the Great Adventure by David L. Harrison, 1974

The Fun and Care of a Kitten by Janice Robinson, 1974

The Fun and Care of a Puppy by Janice Robinson, 1974

The Fun of Training Your Dog: A How To Do It Book For Boys and Girls
by Janice Robinson, 1974

Trinergy (A Selection of Poems) by Gordon Curzon, 1986

Max and Felix by Larry Dane Brimmer, 1993

The Good-For-Something Dragon by Judith Ross Enderle & Stephanie
Gordon Tessler, 1993

Lenona.

[leno...@yahoo.com]

Well, I slipped up. Don't know why it took me so long to find out. It seems he died in 2008, at age 79, in Tieton, Washington.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sanluisobispo/obituary-preview.aspx?n=leslie-les-gray&pid=119453916&referrer=594
(unfortunately, the whole obit is not easily accessible)

Below is what I posted on what would have been his 80th birthday.