Aurora celebrates native son, famed artist

Aurora officials celebrated Aurora native and internationally acclaimed artist Wendell Minor in a homecoming May 28-29.

Minor, 74, of Washington, Conn., is a designer, illustrator and painter for trade fiction and nonfiction books, young adult books, children's books and private and corporate commissions.

At Tuesday's city council meeting, Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin presented Minor with a key to the city. On May 29, the city dedicated a block of New York Street in front of West Aurora High School, Minor's alma mater, as "Wendell Minor Way."

In a final appearance May 29 at Aurora's Santori Public Library, Minor presented an hourlong slideshow chronicling his life and answered audience questions. According to Minor, he decided on a career as an artist while a fourth grade student at Aurora's Greenman Elementary School.

Minor is a graduate of the Ringling School of Art and Design. He received an honorary doctorate from Aurora University in 2004.

His work is in the permanent collections of the Library of Congress, the Museum of American Illustration, and the NASA Art Collection at the John F. Kennedy Space Center.

Minor is the author and/or illustrator of nearly 50 award winning books for children. He has collaborated with many accomplished authors, among them Newbery Award winning naturalist Jean Craighead George, Charlotte Zolotow, Mary Higgins Clark, Robert Burleigh and astronaut Buzz Aldrin. Several of his books, including two with Buzz Aldrin - "Reaching for the Moon" and Look to the Stars," and Mary Higgins Clark's "Ghost Ship" - were New York Times best-sellers.

In addition to children's books, his illustrations and design have enhanced over 2,000 works, including the covers of David McCullough's "Truman," "John Adams" and "1776," Pat Conroy's "The Prince of Tides" and "South of Broad," and "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee.