Louis Darling

Louis Darling
Darling (published 1963)
Born	(1916-04-26)April 26, 1916 Stamford, Connecticut
Died	January 21, 1970(1970-01-21) (aged 53) Norwich, Connecticut
Occupation	Illustrator
Spouse(s)	Lois MacIntyre Darling (1917–1989)

Louis Darling, Jr. (April 26, 1916 – January 21, 1970) was an American illustrator, writer, and environmentalist, best known for illustrating the Henry Huggins series and other children's books written by Beverly Cleary. He and his wife Lois provided illustrations for the first edition of Silent Spring.

Darling was born in Stamford, Connecticut, and would live in Connecticut for most of his life. He attended the Grand Central School of Art in New York City. After graduation and two years of private study, he worked at an agency for a time before enlisting in the Army Air Force in 1942. He served in the Air Force as a photographer for four years.

He married zoologist and artist Lois MacIntyre in 1946. They would remain married until his death, and frequently collaborated on both writing and illustration. They had no children. His mother-in-law, Grace, was a painter as well.

Also in 1946, Darling was hired by William Morrow and Company to illustrate Roderick Haig-Brown's book A River Never Sleeps. Subsequently, he began illustrating, and then writing, children's books, mostly for Morrow. He was assigned to Beverly Cleary's first book, Henry Huggins, in 1950, which began his best-known association; he would illustrate most of Cleary's books until his death. The character of Huggins was called a "modern Tom Sawyer" in the 1950s.

He wrote his first book, Greenhead, in 1954. He would later write: "I started to write my own books because it seemed to me that there was seldom enough cooperation between author and illustrator. The best way to get this cooperation was to become the author myself."

In 1962, the Darlings' friend Roger Tory Peterson suggested to Rachel Carson that they 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.