Zhenya Gay

Zhenya Gay
Born
Eleanor F. Byrnes

September 16, 1901
Norwood, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedAugust 3, 1978 (age 76)
Other namesEleanor Byrnes Reitman
Occupation(s)Writer, illustrator
PartnerJan Gay

Zhenya Gay (born Eleanor F. Byrnes) (September 16, 1901[1] – August 3, 1978) was an American writer and illustrator, best known for her children's books.

Early life and education

Eleanor Byrnes was born in 1906 in Norwood, Massachusetts, the daughter of Charles W. Byrnes and Alice Bell Smith Byrnes.[1] She attended Columbia University, where she studied with Solon Borglum and Winold Reiss.[2]

Career

As a young woman, Gay created movie posters, newspaper advertisements, and costume designs for theater productions.[2] She spent several years traveling and living in Europe, Mexico, and Central America.[3] Her illustrations for The Poems of Catullus (1933) "caught the bacchanalian decadence" of the texts, according to one reviewer.[4] In 1954, she left New York City for the Catskill Mountains,[2] and lived on a farm in Saugerties, New York.[5] In addition to her book illustrations, Gay also created standalone artworks, including aquatints, lithographs, and etchings, and wrote poetry and stories for children, often featuring animal characters, especially cats.[6][7]

In 1941 Gay appeared as "guest story teller" at a children's library in Springfield, Massachusetts.[8] She spoke at the Greenville Public Library in South Carolina in 1956.[9] In 1961, she met with an audience of children at the Napa County Library in California.[5]

Selected works

Gay's works are held in the permanent collections of several museums, including the University of Michigan Museum of Art, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco,[10] and the Seattle Art Museum.[11] The Kerlan Collection at the University of Minnesota holds much of her work,[2] as does the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection at the University of Southern Mississippi.[2]

As author and illustrator

  • Pancho and His Burro (1930)
  • The Shire Colt (1931, with Jan Gay)[12]
  • Town Cats (1932, with Jan Gray)[13]
  • Sakimura (1936)[14][15]
  • Whistlers' Van (1937)
  • Manuelito of Costa Rica (1940 with Pachita Crespi)[8][16]
  • Look! (1952)[3]
  • Jingle Jangle (1953)[17]
  • Wonderful Things! (1954)[18]
  • Bits & Pieces (1958)[19]
  • Small One (1958)[20]
  • The Dear Friends (1959)[21]
  • The Nicest Time of Year (1960)[22]
  • I'm Tired of Lions (1961)[23]
  • Who's Afraid? (1965)[24]

As illustrator

  • Anatole France, The Crimes of Sylvestre Bonnard (1931, translated by Lafcadio Hearn)[25]
  • The Poems of Catullus (1933, translated by Horace Gregory)[26]
  • Frances Clarke Sayers, Mr. Tidy Paws (1936)[27]
  • Oscar Wilde, The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1937)[28]
  • Agnes Fisher, Once upon a time; folk tales, myths and legends of the United Nations (1943)[29]
  • Christine Von Hagen, Chico of the Andes (1943)[30]
  • Arkady Gaidar, Timur and his Gang (1943, translated by Zina Voynow)[31]
  • Irving R. Melbo, Young neighbors in South America (1944)[32]
  • Irma Simonton Black, Toby, a Curious Cat (1948)[33]
  • Alfred Lewis, Treasure in the Andes (1952)[34]
  • Joseph E. Chipperfield, Beyond the Timberland Trail (1953)[35]
  • Miriam E. Mason, The Major and His Camels (1953)[36]
  • Miriam E. Mason, The Sugarbush Family (1954)[37][38]

Personal life

From 1927 until the 1940s, Gay was in a relationship with Jan Gay (born Helen Reitman, daughter of Ben Reitman), a children's book writer and sexuality researcher.[39] Zhenya Gay died in 1978, at the age of 76.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b Many sources give 1906 or 1904 as her birth year; 1901 is the year given in the U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014, via Ancestry. She is recorded as an eight-year-old in her parents' household in the 1910 United States census, via Ancestry.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Zhenya Gay Papers". The de Grummond Children's Literature Collection at The University of Southern Mississippi. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  3. ^ a b "Zhenya Gay". Britannica Kids. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
  4. ^ "Poems of Catullus Find New Freedom in Translation". The Washington Daily News. 1931-07-11. p. 10. Retrieved 2025-07-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b "Noted Author to Meet With Children". The Napa Valley Register. 1961-06-28. p. 7. Retrieved 2025-07-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "For Small Children". Nashville Banner. December 11, 1937. p. 24. Retrieved July 2, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Mr. Tidy Paws Relaxed--But First He Did His Bit". The Minneapolis Journal. 1935-11-10. p. 15. Retrieved 2025-07-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ a b "Zhenya Gay Coming to Branch Library". The Springfield Daily Republican. April 6, 1941. p. 14. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  9. ^ Williams, Billy (1956-01-21). "Miss Gay Says She Likes Writing Children's Books". The Greenville News. p. 12. Retrieved 2025-07-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Nude reclining - Zhenya Gay". FAMSF Search the Collections. 2015-05-08. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
  11. ^ "Seattle Art Museum: Artists: Zhenya Gay". Seattle Art Museum. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
  12. ^ "Books for Juveniles". The Tennessean. 1931-11-29. p. 34. Retrieved 2025-07-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Stories of Cats, Sketched of Dogs, Make Ideal Gifts". Pasadena Star-News. 1932-10-29. p. 20. Retrieved 2025-07-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Book Reviews, Sites, Romance, Fantasy, Fiction". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
  15. ^ Gay, Zhenya. (1937). Sakimura. New York: The Viking press.
  16. ^ Gay, Zhenya (1940). Manuelito of Costa Rica. Internet Archive. New York, J. Messner.
  17. ^ Gay, Zhenya (1953). Jingle Jangle. Internet Archive.
  18. ^ Gay, Zhenya. (1954). Wonderful things. New York: Viking Press.
  19. ^ Gay, Zhenya (1958). Bits & pieces;. Internet Archive. New York, Viking Press.
  20. ^ Gay, Zhenya (1958). Small one. Internet Archive. New York, Viking Press.
  21. ^ Gay, Zhenya (1959). The dear friends. Internet Archive. New York : Harper.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  22. ^ Gay, Zhenya (1960). The nicest time of year. Internet Archive. New York, Viking Press.
  23. ^ Gay, Zhenya; Dennis, Wesley (1961). I'm Tired of Lions/ Flip. Internet Archive. New York : Viking Press.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  24. ^ Gay, Zhenya (1965). Who's afraid?. Internet Archive. New York, Viking Press.
  25. ^ France, Anatole; Gay, Zhenya; Hearn, Lafcadio (1931). The crime of Sylvestre Bonnard. London: John Lane.
  26. ^ Catullus, Gaius Valerius; Gay, Zhenya.; Gregory, Horace (1931). The poems of Catullus. New York: Covici-Friede.
  27. ^ "For the Younger Generation". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. 1936-01-19. p. 50. Retrieved 2025-07-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ^ Wilde, Oscar; Rascoe, Burton; Gay, Zhenya; Fass, John S; Harbor Press; Limited Editions Club Collection (Library of Congress) (1937). The ballad of Reading Gaol. OCLC 1669373.
  29. ^ McEwen, Jessie.; Gay, Zhenya (1943). Once upon a time; folk tales, myths and legends of the United Nations. New York, Ediburgh etc.: T. Nelson and sons.
  30. ^ Von Hagen, Christine; Gay, Zhenya (1943). Chico of the Andes. New York, Toronto etc.: T. Nelson and Sons.
  31. ^ Gaĭdar, Arkadiĭ; Gay, Zhenya; Voynow, Zina (1943). Timur and his gang. Timur i ego komanda.English. New York: C. Scribner's sons.
  32. ^ Melbo, Irving R.; Gay, Zhenya.; Carlson, Stella May.; Miedema, Madeline. (1944). Young neighbors in South America. New York, Chicago etc.: Silver Burdett company.
  33. ^ Black, Irma Simonton; Gay, Zhenya (1948). Toby : a curious cat. Internet Archive. New York : Holiday House.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  34. ^ "Children of Today in our Own and Far Away Lands". Nashville Banner. 1952-11-21. p. 30. Retrieved 2025-07-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  35. ^ Chipperfield, Joseph E.; Gay, Zhenya (1953). Beyond the timberland trail. Internet Archive. New York : Longmans, Green.
  36. ^ Mason, Miriam E. (1953). The Major and His Camels. Macmillan.
  37. ^ Mason, Miriam E. (1954). The Sugarbush Family. Macmillan.
  38. ^ "Book Review: The Sugarbush Family". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 2023-03-15.
  39. ^ Ryan, Hugh (2019-03-05). When Brooklyn Was Queer: A History. St. Martin's Press. p. 168. ISBN 978-1-250-16991-4.
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