Dean Morrissey (1951-2021)

Artist and author Dean Morrissey, 69, died March 4, 2021 in Marshfield MA. He was a prolific cover illustrator, and also wrote and illustrated his own acclaimed children’s books, including Ship of Dreams (1994); The Great Kettles (1997); The Christmas Ship (2000); The Moon Robbers (2001) and The Winter King (2002), both with Stephen Krensky; The Monster Trap (2004); The Crimson Comet (2006); and The Wizard Mouse (2011). His honors include four Chesley Awards and a Spectrum Gold Award.

Dean Walter Morrissey was born October 1, 1951 in Quincy MA. He was self-taught as a painter, and renowned for his realistic renderings of fantasy scenarios. He began his professional illustration career with a cover for Dragon magazine in 1978, and by the mid-’80s was regularly painting book covers for genre publishers. In the ’90s he shifted focus to creating and illustrating his own stories. He is survived by Shan, his wife of 33 years, and daughter Ani; daughter Kate predeceased him.

For more, see his entry in the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.