Northern Essex Professor Receives Awards at Book Show

Lance Hidy, of Merrimac, a Northern Essex Community College professor and accessible media specialist, received awards last week during the 2017 New England Book Show for his graphic design work on two books.

During the ceremony at Symphony Hall, Boston, Hidy received a second-place award for “A Plea for the Animals” and a fourth-place award for “Heart of the Brush: The Splendor of East Asian Calligraphy.”

The awards, as well as excerpts from his winning works, were published in the New England Book Show’s catalog. Now in its 60th year, the New England Book Show recognizes outstanding work done by New England publishers, graphic designers and developers.

Hidy’s work also recently appeared in an article for quarterly magazine Letter Arts Review entitled “Letter Culture: The Enduring Influence of Lloyd Reynolds.” Reynolds, a former professor at Reed College, is notable for his contributions to academia on the subjects of calligraphy, graphic design and typography. As a former student of Reynolds — and one with the most complete surviving record of his lectures, Hidy provided many illustrations for the article, which appeared in the Summer 2016 issue of the magazine.

Hidy is a native of Portland, Ore. who began in design and illustration after graduating from Yale University and studying privately with the sculptor and printmaker Leonard Baskin. In 1969, he co-founded the company David R. Godine, Publisher and, four years later, established a design firm of his own. By the 1980s, Hidy gained a strong reputation for his expertise in poster art and illustration, eventually serving as the art director of the Harvard Business Review and designing three U.S. postage stamps.