Neil Waldman

Neil Waldman (1947 – 2026)

I am sorry to announce the passing of my dear friend of almost three decades, the artist Neil Waldman. Neil published more than 50 award winning children’s books (I was honored to collaborate with him on our book, Too Young

 for Yiddish), and he illustrated over 100 book jackets, including seven Newbery award winning covers, most notably Gary Paulsen’s Hatchet. Neil designed postage stamps for thirteen nations, and he has won a Christopher Award, a National Jewish Book Award, a Parents Choice Award, an American Library Association Notable Award, and a host of others. His book Dream Makers was published as a benefit for the Children’s Aid Society in NYC.

Neil’s fine art oils and watercolors can be seen in the capital buildings of a dozen nations, and he received a gold medal from the United Nations in an international competition in which he was chosen to represent the United States. The world body selected his entry as the official poster for the International Year of Peace. Today it hangs in the halls of the General Assembly.

In 2006, Neil founded the Fred Dolan Art Academy, a non-profit arts organization providing free, professional-level art instruction to minority and under-resourced young artists from the Bronx (where Neil grew up). 93% of the Academy’s graduates have received scholarships to some of the country’s most competitive art and design programs —and they now have careers in fine art, fashion design, architecture, animation, illustration, toy design, and education.

Jennifer and I have been privileged to call Neil our friend. Our thoughts are with Kath (the love of Neil’s life), his siblings, children, and grandchildren. May Neil’s artwork, kindness, generosity, and love of life continue to inspire us all.

We will be honoring Neil with a display of his artwork during our annual illustration celebration this year on Sunday, November 8th from 4-6pm.

—Rich Michelson

Learn More

Watch Neil Waldman and The Fred Dolan Art Academy graduates

Watch Dream School, about The Fred Dolan Art Academy, an academy that offers low-income youth in the 6th through 12 grades the opportunity to undergo serious artistic training. Participants spend each Saturday developing their skills in hopes of gaining acceptance to college art programs and eventually becoming professional painters, illustrators, architects, animators and graphic designers.