RUTH, Rod

(1912-1987)

   US illustrator. Some of his early work was in animal ILLUSTRATION, a talent that served him well in sf also, where he created some very credible alien beasts. He became a staff artist for the ZIFF-DAVIS magazines in the late 1930s and is best known for hisproficient and sometimes amusing black-and-white interior illustrations (1940-51)-mostly done with grease crayon - for about 100 issues of AmazingStories and Fantastic Adventures, for which he also painted 4 covers. He left Ziff-Davis in 1950 and devoted himself primarily to wildlife illustration - for which he won several awards. After 25 years away from sf RR illustrated Science Fiction Tales: Invaders, Creatures and Alien Worlds (anth 1973) ed Roger ELWOOD and 2 other anthologies. RR alsoillustrated children's books and worked for 16 years on a comic strip, The Toodles.

   JG/PN