Vera Williams

Vera B. Williams (born January 28, 1927) is an American children's writer and illustrator. Her best known work, A Chair for My Mother, has won multiple awards and was featured on the children's television show Reading Rainbow. She was the U.S. Illustrator Nominee for the 2004 Hans Christian Andersen Award. Vera Baker was born January 28, 1927 in Hollywood, California. She has one sister, Naomi.]] As a child, her family moved to the Bronx, New Yor... more

Vera B. Williams (born January 28, 1927) is an American children's writer and illustrator. Her best known work, A Chair for My Mother, has won multiple awards and was featured on the children's television show Reading Rainbow. She was the U.S. Illustrator Nominee for the 2004 Hans Christian Andersen Award. Vera Baker was born January 28, 1927 in Hollywood, California. She has one sister, Naomi.]] As a child, her family moved to the Bronx, New York, where her father was frequently absent during her early childhood. Encouraged by their parents to explore the arts, she studied at The High School of Music & Art and Black Mountain College in North Carolina, where she received her BFA in Graphic Art in 1949. While at Black Mountain College, she married fellow student Paul Williams. The couple divorced in 1970. Together they had three children: Williams was a co-founder of the Gate Hill Cooperative Community and served as a teacher for the community from 1953-70. She taught at alternative... less