The Final Brushstroke

Just logged on to Keith Parkinson’s website this morning and discovered he had recently passed away after a long battle with leukemia.

He was only 47.

There are few who actually pay attention to who does the artwork for the cover page of their favourite book. And no, I’m not referring to those novels where the protagonist is sprawled on the cover with his or her nipple peeking out.

I’m talking about beautifully hand-painted works of art, all done in painstaking detail and capturing, in a single picture, the essence of the whole novel.

Apart from the famous Hildebrandt Brothers who did the illustrations for The Sword Of Shannara, Parkinson was the only one who always seemed to be able to bring out the magic hidden in the Shannara books.

Nothing sums this up more than his covers for The Talismans Of Shannara and The Elfqueen of Shannara.


I wouldn’t have wanted Walker or Wren to be painted any other way.



And yes, I STILL think the Hildebrandts shouldn’t have shown Allanon’s face….


Edit: I just tried logging on to Terry Brooks’ website in the hopes of leaving something like a “I thought you might want to let your readers know that Keith Parkinson has just passed away” note, but I saw no forums or feedback avenues except for a “ask Terry” section.

Furthermore the “Artists” link to his site is non-existent.

So if anyone else is interested in Terry Brooks books, which, even though it’s oh-a-bestseller-and-all-that-jazz, and I only personally know of 3 people who read them (i.e. me, my brother, and my cousin), I thought I’d just let you all know. Yeah.

And I’m trying VERY hard to not say something like “I’d rather have a minute of silence for Parkinson than some other people” but I think I should stay away from….sensitive topics. Karma has a weird way of biting asses. Usually mine.


Edit to the edit: ok, found the forums. Silly me.