Josh Kirby has Died
November 1, 2001 2:18 AM   Subscribe

Josh Kirby has Died Perhaps best known for his artwork on Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, Josh was a well known science fiction and fantasy cover artist. He was 72.
posted by chrimble (10 comments total)
 
I had no idea Kirby was so old. His Pratchett covers had a sort of youthful vitality to them. I don't think there's anyone who could do covers quite like him. Pratchett books, in the UK at least, will look quite different from now on.
RIP.
posted by salmacis at 2:36 AM on November 1, 2001


Agreed. I will miss those covers, having bought lord knows how many Pratchett books.

Quick count: 16
posted by Neale at 2:58 AM on November 1, 2001


Well, that sucks.

Unless I'm really desperate for a Pratchett fix, I always buy his books online from a place in Canada just so I can get them with the Kirby covers.
posted by Cyrano at 6:10 AM on November 1, 2001


That's sad indeed. His artwork always made it easy to spot the Pratchett novels on the library shelves.

When I moved to the US, I gave away all but one of my Pratchett books to a friend, thinking I'd rebuild my library over here - I didn't know they didn't have Josh Kirby's artwork on them in the US! All I have left is my signed Lords and Ladies.
posted by SiW at 9:35 AM on November 1, 2001


23 books, pretty pics on the front..

=(

I'll go out and get the Last Hero tmrw as a commemoration..
posted by Mossy at 10:00 AM on November 1, 2001


Sad day.

Neil Gaiman says a few words here. (See the October 30th entry.)
posted by Marquis at 10:04 AM on November 1, 2001


Aw. Damn.
posted by realjanetkagan at 10:35 AM on November 1, 2001


To tell the truth, while I admired his technical abiity, I absolutely hated all his Pratchett covers. They were frequently untrue to the text, overly grotesque, and in one case gave away a vital plotline. alt.fan.pratchett used to be convulsed with flame wars over Kirby covers.

The bloke who did the Nanny Ogg cookbook illustrations is much better at caputuring the Discworld.

Still, I have to hand it to someone who's still sought after in their 70s.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 12:32 PM on November 1, 2001


spleen: To be fair to him, he may not have been given the chance to read them before he did the covers. Lots of artists aren't. At least, that's been my experience here in the US.

Damn. I hate it when we lose one of the good ones.
posted by realjanetkagan at 1:30 PM on November 1, 2001


feelingshakey
posted by feelinglistless at 3:09 PM on November 1, 2001


« Older Leonardo's Bridge   |   Long May You Live, Yeah - But How Long Exactly... Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments