Under the North Light: Webster book looks at Petersham work as WAAM show highlights it

There’s poignancy, too, as Noah cries when he realizes he accidentally made the Ark too small for mammoths and dinosaurs, who had to be left behind in the flood. Webster ‘s understanding of publishing and all aspects of book production enhances the history of the Petersham’s career. Each of seven chapters is interspersed with bright reproductions of their illustrations and photographs of the couple and their extended family (including professional associates). Every fact is footnoted, and credit is generously attributed to all who helped bring this book to fruition.

Lawrence, known as Larry, was raised on Byrdcliffe mountain. Grandparents on both sides built their own summer houses there, and her parents met when her father was directing a play at the Byrdcliffe Theatre while her much younger mother was painting benches. Larry grew up in Avanti, where the book’s designer, Abigail Sturges, lives now. The Websters and the Petershams became friends during the 1920s. Larry keeps over her bed a drawing and congratulatory note the Petershams gave her mother when she was born. She and the Petersham’s granddaughter, Mary, remain friends today.

Not content to rely on memories, Webster’s intellect led her to the University of Southern Mississippi where the Petershams’ personal papers are included in the duGrummond Archives of Children’s Literature. There she pored over 30 boxes of original notes and letters, a project she thoroughly enjoyed. The book took more than four years to produce, from the moment Julia and Weston Blelock (co-owners WoodstockArts) suggested it to the advance copies that will be available at the Woodstock Artists Association and Museum on October 6. Larry hopes the Petershams’ story will foster the same cooperative spirit among Woodstock’s arts and educational organizations that Maud and Miska embodied in their lives. As a former Assistant Librarian and former board member of the Woodstock Library, she singles out one creation from the Petersham collection that symbolizes this spirit. It’s Peter the Horse, carved by folk artist William Spanhake and painted by the Petershams, which resides in the children’s room at the Woodstock Public Library.

Webster writes: “Countless youngsters have climbed the booster steps for a ride, and many adoring arms have encircled Peter’s neck since he moved into the library in the 1950s. Peter was one of five horses carved by Spanhake and painted by different Woodstock artists for an auction to benefit the library.” Larry added this week, “Peter will travel from the Library to WAAM for the Petersham show. I hope this is the first of many more collaborations, in the spirit of the Petershams.”