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A brilliant illustrator discovers a new passion upon unexpectedly stepping into a second career as a children's author and mentor eil Waldman was enjoying a career as a successful commercial illustrator and painter when he received some very unexpected mail. After viewing some of Neil's paintings on display in San Diego, an editor from Harcourt Brace penned a letter to him asking if he would provide the illustrations for a unique children's book that had found its way onto her desk. Neil was flattered, but by no means considered himself a children's illustrator, and politely declined the offer. The editor persisted, insisting that Neil's paintings exuded a spiritual feeling that she was convinced matched the story, a coming of age tale about a young Native American boy. When he finally agreed to read the manuscript, she asked that he promise to review it at least five times.
Keeping a promise. Although he was still staunchly convinced that a foray into children's books was not for him, Neil kept his promise. By his fifth reading he had fallen in love with the story, entitled Bring Back the Deer (Harcourt Brace, 1988), but could not conjure up a single visual image for any of the illustrations. When he told the editor that he had been agonizing over ideas and suggested that perhaps she should pursue another artist, she firmly refused. Still searching for a way to dissuade her from wanting him as the book's illustrator, Neil told her that he would need at least a year and a half to finish the illustrations. "She said, 'You've...