Lois Darling
Encyclopedia
Lois MacIntyre Darling was an author, illustrator and researcher. She was an accomplished yachtswoman.
and grew up around Riverside
, Connecticut
. MacIntyre's father, Malcolm, was a mechanical engineer whilst her mother Grace (born Hamilton) was a skilled artist. She was keen on sailing and won the 1941 National Women's Sailing Championship.
During the second World War Darling worked for the U.S. Navy where she combined her artistic skills and her interest in sailing by creating models of warships. In 1946 she met and married her husband, Louis Darling, which launched a lifelong collaboration. Both also worked independently too. He worked in children's books and she created illustrations which included covers for the magazine Yachting
.
In 1959 she became involved in work to commemorate the centenary of Charles Darwin
's On the Origin of Species and she was intrigued by the ship that had carried Darwin on his original research. Darling built a model of for the American Museum of Natural History
and then continued to gather information on the vessel. For twenty years she continued her research publishing her findings in articles. Her work culminated in her first solo book which was published in 1977. Her model of the Beagle is still part of the museum's collection.
She illustrated a number of books although many were in collaboration with her husband Louis. Her book on the Beagle
followed twenty years of research. The depth of her research was proved when a professional artist used her expertise to enable him to create a picture of FitzRoy's Beagle which allowed for the many modifications made to the ship to prepare her for Captain Robert FitzRoy
's voyages of discovery.
In 1962, the Darlings' friend Roger Tory Peterson
suggested to author Rachel Carson
that Louis and Lois be hired to illustrate her forthcoming book, Silent Spring
. Their illustrations would be used on the chapter headings and the title page of the first edition.
Her final collaboration with her husband was A Place in the Sun: Ecology and the Living World, published in 1968. Louis died of cancer in 1970.
Darling died in December 1989 of leukaemia at Lawrence and Memorial Hospital. She was living at Old Lyme in Connecticut.
Biography
Lois MacIntyre was born in 15 August 1917 in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and grew up around Riverside
Riverside (Greenwich)
Riverside is a neighborhood/section and census-designated place in the town of Greenwich in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 8,416....
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
. MacIntyre's father, Malcolm, was a mechanical engineer whilst her mother Grace (born Hamilton) was a skilled artist. She was keen on sailing and won the 1941 National Women's Sailing Championship.
During the second World War Darling worked for the U.S. Navy where she combined her artistic skills and her interest in sailing by creating models of warships. In 1946 she met and married her husband, Louis Darling, which launched a lifelong collaboration. Both also worked independently too. He worked in children's books and she created illustrations which included covers for the magazine Yachting
Yachting (magazine)
Yachting is a monthly English-language magazine published since 1907. It was founded by Oswald Garrison Villard, publisher of the New York Evening Post and the Nation. The next year Herbert L. Stone became the manager. In 1938 Stone and some friends bought the magazine.It features articles on...
.
In 1959 she became involved in work to commemorate the centenary of Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
's On the Origin of Species and she was intrigued by the ship that had carried Darwin on his original research. Darling built a model of for the American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
and then continued to gather information on the vessel. For twenty years she continued her research publishing her findings in articles. Her work culminated in her first solo book which was published in 1977. Her model of the Beagle is still part of the museum's collection.
She illustrated a number of books although many were in collaboration with her husband Louis. Her book on the Beagle
HMS Beagle
HMS Beagle was a Cherokee-class 10-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 11 May 1820 from the Woolwich Dockyard on the River Thames, at a cost of £7,803. In July of that year she took part in a fleet review celebrating the coronation of King George IV of the United Kingdom in which...
followed twenty years of research. The depth of her research was proved when a professional artist used her expertise to enable him to create a picture of FitzRoy's Beagle which allowed for the many modifications made to the ship to prepare her for Captain Robert FitzRoy
Robert FitzRoy
Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy RN achieved lasting fame as the captain of HMS Beagle during Charles Darwin's famous voyage, and as a pioneering meteorologist who made accurate weather forecasting a reality...
's voyages of discovery.
In 1962, the Darlings' friend Roger Tory Peterson
Roger Tory Peterson
Roger Tory Peterson , was an American naturalist, ornithologist, artist, and educator, and held to be one of the founding inspirations for the 20th century environmental movement.-Background:...
suggested to author Rachel Carson
Rachel Carson
Rachel Louise Carson was an American marine biologist and conservationist whose writings are credited with advancing the global environmental movement....
that Louis and Lois be hired to illustrate her forthcoming book, Silent Spring
Silent Spring
Silent Spring is a book written by Rachel Carson and published by Houghton Mifflin on 27 September 1962. The book is widely credited with helping launch the environmental movement....
. Their illustrations would be used on the chapter headings and the title page of the first edition.
Her final collaboration with her husband was A Place in the Sun: Ecology and the Living World, published in 1968. Louis died of cancer in 1970.
Darling died in December 1989 of leukaemia at Lawrence and Memorial Hospital. She was living at Old Lyme in Connecticut.
(illustrations)
- Before and After the Dinosaurs (1959),
- Sixty Million Years of Horses (1960),
- The Science of Life (1961),
- Bird (1962),
- Coral Reefs (1963),
- The Sea Serpents Around Us (1965),
- General Ecology (1967)
- A Place in the Sun (1968)
- Sou’West and by West (1948) (by Llewellyn Howland)
- Evolution of the Vertebrates (1955), (by Edwin H. Colbert)
- Worms (1972)