Irwin Shapiro (writer)

{{Infobox person

| honorific_prefix =

| name = Irwin Shapiro

| honorific_suffix =

| native_name =

| native_name_lang =

| image =

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption = American writer

| birth_name =

| birth_date = 1911

| birth_place = Pittsburgh

| death_date = {{death year and age|1981|1911}}

| death_place =

| death_cause =

| occupation = writer

| years_active = 1938–1979

| employer = Golden Books

| spouse = Edna Richter

| children =

| parents =

| relatives =

}}

Irwin Shapiro (1911–1981) was an American writer and translator of over 40 books, mostly for children and about Americana.

Biography

Irwin Shapiro was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

{{cite book

| last = Meier

| first = Andrew

| title = The Lost Spy: An American in Stalin's Secret Service

| publisher = W. W. Norton

| date = August 11, 2008

| pages = [https://archive.org/details/lostspyamericani00meie/page/257 257–260)]

| isbn = 978-0-393-06097-3

| url-access = registration

| url = https://archive.org/details/lostspyamericani00meie/page/257

}} Little is known of his background or upbringing. His family probably came from what is now Hungary, since his first published books in the late 1930s are translations from Hungarian.

Shapiro studied at the Art Students League in New York City, where he is known to have taken at least one class under Thomas Hart Benton with fellow student Esther Shemitz (who later married Whittaker Chambers). During the Great Depression, he held odd jobs.

Shapiro married Edna Richter. She worked in the Works Progress Administration (WPA), in which she was also "an active member of the American Federation of Government Employees Union."

{{cite web

| url = https://archive.org/details/investigationofc563unit

| title = Investigation of Communist infiltration of Government. Hearing (1956)

| accessdate = September 10, 2011}} According to Shapiro's son, husband and wife were "both deep in the Party." Edna Richter was Moscow correspondent for the Daily Worker newspaper. With events like the trials of the Great Purge and the Hitler-Stalin Pact, "my parents saw the truth, thanks to Stalin."

(Shapiro's brother-in-law, Irving Richter, worked with the United Auto Workers (UAW) and lived much of his life in Detroit. He appeared before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1956, at which time Edna Richter's name and work at the WPA was mentioned.)

Shapiro and his wife moved to Florida, where he died in 1981.

Works

After an initial foray into writing radical literature that encompassed his last year as a communist, Shapiro turned to children's books, which he published for the vast majority of his career (1938–1979). He published many titles for Golden Books. Among them is The Gremlins of Liet. Oggins, which author Andrew Meier suspects was really a coded message about the imprisonment of American spy Isaiah Oggins in the GULAG under Stalin." He also adapted a number of works of classic literature into comic book form (illustrated by artists) for Pendulum Press in 1973–1974. The Library of Congress holds 44 titles in his name.

=Plays=

90 Percent of the People (1938, unpublished) (archived at New York Public Library)

=Translations=

[http://lccn.loc.gov/38029531 Prelude to Love] by Jolán Földes, translated from Hungarian by Alexander G. Kenedi and Irwin Shapiro (1938)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/39029835 Egyptian Interlude] by Jolán Földes, translated from Hungarian by Irwin Shapiro (1939)

=Books=

[http://lccn.loc.gov/42020568 How Old Stormalong Captured Mocha Dick] with pictures by Donald McKay (1942)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/43016228 Steamboat Bill and the Captain's Top Hat] with pictures by Donald Mckay (1943)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/43007297 Gremlins of Lieut. Oggins] with illustrations by Donald McKay (1943)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/44004323 Yankee thunder: The Legendary Life of Davy Crockett] with pictures by James Daugherty (1944)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/44003476 Casey Jones and Locomotive No. 638] with pictures by Donald McKay (1944)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/45007135 John Henry and the Double Jointed Steam-Drill] with drawings by James Daugherty (1945)
Joe Magarac and His USA Citizen Papers with pictures by James Daugherty (1948) ([http://lccn.loc.gov/48008613 LOC entry])
[http://lccn.loc.gov/55003178 J. Fred Muggs] (1955)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/55013897 Walt Disney's Davy Crockett's Keelboat Race] (1955)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/55014724 Walt Disney's Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier] (1955)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/56003079 Daniel Boone] (1956)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/56014162 Presidents of the United States] illustrated by Mel Crawford and Edwin Schmidt (1956)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/57013729 Cleo. Photos. by Durward B. Graybill] (1957)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/57014043 Golden Tales from the Arabian Nights: The Most Famous Stories from the Great Classic A Thousand and One Nights] (1957)*
[http://lccn.loc.gov/57014146 Golden book of America: Stories from Our Country's Past] adapted for young readers by Irwin Shapiro from the pages of American Heritage, with a foreword by Bruce Catton (1957)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/57003591 Lassie Finds a Way: A New Story of the Famous Dog] (1957)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/60029903 Circus Boy] with pictures by Joan Walsh Anglund (1957)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/59019325 Tall Tales of America] illustrated by Al Schmidt (1958)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/59001574 The Story of Flight: From the Ancient Winged Gods to the Age of Space] by John Lewellen and Irwin Shapiro, illustrated with old prints, photos, and original paintings and drawings by Harry McNaught (1959)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/61034010 Aviation, des origines aux vols interplanétaires] (1959) (translation)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/59014690 The Story of Yankee Whaling] by the editors of American heritage with narrative by Irwin Shapiro in consultation with Edouard A. Stackpole (1960)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/61008491 The Golden Book of California: From the Days of the Spanish Explorers to the Present] (1961)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/62051041 The Golden book of Aviation] (1961) (second printing)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/62010205 Heroes in American Folklore] illustrated by James Daugherty and Donald McKay (1962)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/62009858 Jonathan and the Dragon] illustrated by Tom Vroman (1962)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/62015853 The Golden Book of the Renaissance] adapted for young readers by Irwin Shapiro from theHorizon Book of the Renaissance (1962)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/66003812 The Universal History of the World] edited by Irwin Shapiro (1966)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/72001471 Gretchen and the White Steed] with drawings by Herman Vestal (1972)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/71169844 Sam Patch, Champion Jumper] illustrated by Ted Schroeder (1972)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/72010559 Willie's Whizmobile] with drawings by Paul Frame (1973)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/72097116 Twice upon a Time] illustrated by Adrienne Adams (1973)
Tom Sawyer (adaptation), illustrated by E. R. Cruz (Pendulum Press, 1973). Reprinted in Marvel Classics Comics #7 (1976)
Moby-Dick (adaptation), illustrated by Alex Niño & Dan Adkins (Pendulum Press, 1973). Reprinted in Marvel Classics Comics #8 (1976)
The Red Badge of Courage (adaptation), illustrated by E .R. Cruz (Pendulum Press, 1974). Reprinted in Marvel Classics Comics #10 (1976)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/74077047 Uncle Sam's 200th Birthday Parade] illustrated by Frank Brugos (1974)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/74019059 Paul Bunyan Tricks a Dragon] illustrated by Raymond Burns (1975)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/74028287 Dan McCann and His Fast Sooner Hound] illustrated by Mimi Korach (1975)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/75034636 Smokey Bear's Camping Book] illustrated by Mel Crawford (1976)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/77007544 Darwin and the Enchanted Isles] illustrated by Christopher Spollen (1977)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/78005841 The Hungry Ghost Mystery] illustrated by William M. Hutchinson (1978)
Joe Magarac and His USA Citizen Papers (1979) ([http://lccn.loc.gov/78066070 second printing])
[http://lccn.loc.gov/78024224 The Gift of Magic Sleep: Early Experiments in Anesthesia] illustrated by Pat Rotondo (1979)
[http://lccn.loc.gov/2002154068 Tenggren's Golden Tales from the Arabian Nights] illustrated by Gustaf Tenggren, retold by Margaret Soifer and Irwin Shapiro, introduction by Mary Pope Osborne (2003)