JOSEPH SLATE

SLATE JOSEPH FRANK SLATE Joseph Frank Slate, author and artist, passed away on Monday, January 20, 2020 in Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 92. In a life exemplified by creativity, he wrote more than 25 children's books and numerous short stories that appeared in national publications that included The New Yorker, Saturday Review and Art Journal, and was an art teacher and working artist for more than 30 years. Two of his early stories were inspired by an elder sister, an invalid who entertained her younger siblings by drawing picture books on the back of discarded wallpaper and bound with yarn. She died at the age of 17, and he credits her and his three other sisters with inspiring his careers as both an author and an artist. "Being brought up with sisters can gentle a man, when they are not driving him crazy," he once quipped. Born on January 19, 1928, in Hollidays Cove, West Virginia, he served in the U.S. Marine Air Corps from 1946 to 1948. He then attended the University of Washington, majoring in communications. While at UW, he was a stringer for The Seattle Times, who hired him as a reporter after his graduation in 1951. In 1953, he joined the Foreign Broadcast Information Service as an editor, and was based in both Washington DC and Tokyo, where his love for art blossomed. In 1958, he left FBIS to study at the Yale School of Art, graduating in 1962 with a Master of Arts degree in painting. He then began a teaching career at Kenyon College, where he taught for more than 30 years and built its major fine arts program. He is a Kenyon Distinguished Teacher awardee, and Kenyon named a painting studio after him in its Art building. His prints and paintings have been exhibited in the Brooklyn and Whitney Museums, as well as various regional exhibits. Finding he could combine his art and writing abilities, he then set his sights on children's books. He is best known for the Miss Bindergarten series of books, about a border collie who teaches kindergarten. Illustrated by Ashley Wolff, he twice made it to the New York Times and Publisher's Weekly best seller lists. In 2009, the series was turned into a musical play by the Omaha Theater Company that toured 20 cities. These books have never been out of print and have sold more than one million copies. Nationally renowned, his young and juvenile reader's books have won more than a dozen children's choice and state author awards, and have been translated into many languages. His last book, I Want To Be Free, received the Booklist Editor's Choice Award for Middle Readers. In 2010, he was inducted into the University of Washington Communications Hall of Fame, recognized for his combined talents, his compassion, and his ability to connect with people, particularly young children. Preceded in death by his parents, Frank and Angela Slate, and his sisters Mary (Sheridan), Rose Slate, Dorothy (Krukowski) and Lucille (Armstrong), he is survived by his wife of 65 years, Patricia Slate, of Nashville, Tennessee, who he met when she was the secretary to the Dean of Students at Yale. An inveterate traveler with his beloved "Patty" always by his side, they set foot on all seven continents and visited more than 70 countries. He is also survived by many loving nieces and nephews. A funeral Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, January 25, at 1:45 p.m. at Christ the King Church, 3001 Belmont Blvd, Nashville, Tennessee. A memorial service at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Silver Spring, Maryland will be held at a later date.A funeral Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, January 25, at 1:45 p.m. at Christ the King Church, 3001 Belmont Blvd, Nashville, Tennessee. A memorial service at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Silver Spring, Maryland will be held at a later date.