drawings by Martha Perske

introduction by Robert Perske

Hardcover, 9 1/4" x 9 1/4", 120 pages, new and in mint condition.

Martha Perske is a self-taught illustrator with a marvelous gift for showing a person's disability and natural beauty at the same time. She does it with a pencil - just a pencil.

Prior to this time, Martha's art was known worldwide for helping to give wings to the words of others who spoke out on behalf of persons with disabilities. Now, for the first time, it is being allowed to speak for itself.

Martha Perske's work has been recognized by most of the major disability organizations in the Western world. She illustrated major reports on mental retardation for Presidents Nixon and Carter, designed the International Year of Disabled Persons commemorative stamp, and drew the persons with disabilities for Marlo Thomas's Free to Be... A Family. She was commissioned to present an autographed drawing to Diana, Princess of Wales, and she drew the illustration for an attitude-change campaign jointly sponsored by Johnson & Johnson and the Arc of the United States. She received the Healing Community Arts and Letters Award at the United Nations in New York. Martha Perske and her husband, Robert Perske, author and advocate for persons with disabilities, live in Darien, Connecticut.

Martha's pencil drawings of persons with disabilities have appeared in books, on postage stamps, in magazines, and in reports commissioned by the United States government and the Queen of England. Her illustrations stand out because she presents a rare, refreshing view of both a person's disability and beauty.