Denver Gillen (1914-1974)

I've been admiring Denver Gillen's work for quite a long time now - and even more so because he started life as a fellow Canuck. Thanks to a previous post I wrote about the artist, I was contacted by Gillen's daughter, Jenifer:

"Hello,
I am in awe of your collection of illustrations by my father, Denver Gillen. Thank you for the honor of recognizing his work and his talent.

Sincerely,
Jenifer Gillen Cohn"


That first note lead to a delightful correspondence with Jenifer in which she related many wonderful memories to me:

"I know my father, who we called 'Pop', would have been charmed by your interest in his work. He would have been interested in your work, too.

I remember that Pop did receive his fair share of fan mail, which he would read out loud to my mother. He would chuckle about it, but I know he really appreciated them. And, he would always answer his mail."


This week I'm going to share some excerpts from those correspondence with you, and through Jenifer's recollections of growing up in a happy home with her mom and Pop, I know you'll be as pleased as I was to learn about a remarkable man and a terrific illustrator, Denver Gillen.

Denver Gillen Flickr set