Obituaries

Tom Feelings, an illustrator best known for his artwork dealing with Africa and the African-American experience, died August 25 in Mexico, where he had been receiving treatment for cancer. He was 70.

An art professor at the University of South Carolina between 1989 and 1996, Feelings illustrated 20 books, including two Caldecott Honor books, Moja Means One (Dial, 1971) and Jambo Means Hello (Dial, 1974). Both were written by his former wife Muriel Feelings. He also illustrated a book for adults and children about the slave trade, The Middle Passage: White Ships/Black Cargo (Dial, 1995), as well as a book of Maya Angelou's poetry, Now Sheba Sings the Song (Dutton, 1987). Feelings also created the comic strip "Tommy Traveler in the World of Negro History" in 1958 for New York Age , a now defunct newspaper that was based in Harlem.

"Tom Feelings was an extremely talented artist," says Phyllis Fogelman, his editor at Dial since the 1960s. "I was astonished by the power of his black-and-white drawings. In The Middle Passage , his powerful black-and-white paintings without words showed the horrific journey of enslaved Africans, from Africa to the southern United States, over several centuries." Feelings, she says, was a mentor to many younger black artists, including Jerry Pinkney and James Ransome.

Mary Jane Tacchi, coordinator of young adult services at the New York Public Library (NYPL) since 1998, died of cancer September 1. She was 61.

Tacchi, who received an MLS from the University of California at Berkeley and began her career at the NYPL's branch libraries in 1966, advocated teen programs, including Young Playwrights, Poetry in the Branches, and the "WordSmiths" Web site (teenlink.nypl.org/WordSmiths-Current.cfm), which promotes teen writing. She also managed the annual publication of Books for the Teen Age and its cover design competition.

After serving in young adult positions in a variety of branches in the Bronx, Tacchi became the supervising borough specialist who oversaw young adult work in all Bronx branches. She then became assistant coordinator of young adult services for the branch libraries before becoming young adult coordinator.

As a longtime member of the American Library Association's Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), Tacchi served on numerous committees including, most recently, the Professional Development Planning Task Force and the YALSA Research Committee. She also chaired the YALSA Selected Film and Videos for Young Adults.

"Mary Jane cared deeply about teenagers," says Mary Conwell, NYPL's director of branch services. "She was extremely proud to be part of the long tradition of library service to young adults at the New York Public Library, and she admired and valued the work young adult librarians do with teenagers in our branches every day."