Walter Wyles: "...my oldest and closest friend."

Long-time readers will recall a week in March 2007 when guest author David Roach shared a cache of old magazine illustrations by British artists. One of those artists was Walter Wyles.



After that week, I received an email from a gentleman named Bryn Havord. He wrote, "I started work in London's Fleet Street in 1952 working on two comics entitled Eagle and Girl. They were published by Hulton Press who also published Housewife and Picture Post. We all had a voracious appetite for American magazines and were greatly influenced by them, especially the illustrators."

Bryn went on to assistant art direct Woman magazine in the late '50s and early '60s. From 1963 to '65 he was associate editor and art director of Woman's Mirror. "During that time I commissioned work from leading British illustrators including Walter Wyles," wrote Bryn. "He remains my oldest and closest friend."


Bryn and I made tentative plans for him to guest author a week on Walter for the blog. And now, a couple of years later, that project has finally come to fruition.


Last time Bryn visited with Walter and his wife Maggie, he collected an unprecedented bounty of gorgeous artwork for us - much of it shot from the originals - and a comprehensive biography of the artist's life and career.


Beginning tomorrow, Bryn Havord on his oldest and closest friend, Walter Wyles.

* my British Illustrators Flickr set