Armstrong Sperry

Armstrong Wells Sperry (November 7, 1897 – April 26, 1976) was an American writer and illustrator of children's literature.

Born and brought up in the rocky hills of New England, he lived within sight and sound of the sea. Possibly it is this early association which from time to time led him into exploring some of the remotest corners of the world. In 1925 he joined the Kaimiloa expedition as an assistant ethnologist for the Bishop Museum of Honolulu. Sailing among the least known Islands of the South Pacific, he laid the foundation for the first-hand knowledge of Polynesia which has formed the background of many of his books, including his best-known book Call it Courage, which was awarded the Newbery Medal in 1941.

Mr. Sperry began his early professional career as an artist, having studied painting with George Bellows. Perhaps for this reason, when he turned to writing as an additional medium, he brought to his use of words the painter’s gift for seeing color, form and design, and he usually illustrated his own books (as well as others). These include historical fiction and biography, often set on sailing ships, and stories of boys from Polynesia, Asia and indigenous American cultures.

*****************

One of America's outstanding historical novelists for young people, Armstrong Sperry is a rare combination of imaginative artist and inspired writer. "I can't remember when I first began to scribble stories and draw pictures", says this talented author. "These two interests were bound up closely together in my earliest childhood." But draw and write Sperry did—after two years sojourn on the South Pacific island of Bora Bora—as author illustrator of All Sail Set, a book often called one of the greatest sea stories since Two Years Before the Mast.

Mr. Sperry attributes his ability to give a story that special flavor of brine and salt to his upbringing within sight of the Atlantic and to the long line of sea captains who were his ancestors. Recipient of a John Newbery Medal for his outstanding contribution to children's literature, Mr. Sperry has to his credit such popular novels as Black Falcon, Danger to Windward, and Storm Canvas—all rousing tales that reflect the interests of this unique author.

—from the dust jacket of River of the West: The Story of the Boston Men