James C. McCrea, 1920–2013, graphic artist, typographer.
Ruth Pirman McCrea, 1921–2016, graphic artist, illustrator, author.
Ruth Pirman, born in Jersey City, New Jersey, met James McCrea, born in Peoria, Illinois, at the Ringling School of Art in Sarasota, Florida. They married on the Fourth of July, 1943. After James returned from military service, the couple moved to New York City, then settling in Bayport, Long Island in 1956. They worked both independently and together for many of the major publishing houses in New York. Collaborations included the Hemingway jackets for Scribner Library and four childrens’ books that Ruth wrote and illustrated. The AIGA named one of them, The King’s Process, to its 50 best books of the year list. Jim taught typography at Cooper Union for a decade. In 1980 they retired to East Hampton, where Ruth fell victim to a dollhouse obsession, enabled by Jim and often benefitting the Ladies Village Improvement Society.
Their yearly Christmas greetings are gems of artistry, professionalism and humaneness.
