“Born in 1899, Ruth Taylor and her family, like many, headed persistently west in the late 19th century, moving from East Coast to West in the span of about 20 years and finally settling in California. According to the 1920 US Census, Taylor seemed to be settling into a pretty normal life--she was married to Leonard White and living in Phoenix, Arizona. Leonard was a life insurance salesman. Two kids followed, and so did divorce. With limited information, it’s easy to fill in the gaps and imagine a disastrous mismatch of temperaments, but all we know is that Ruth and her children moved to California and she began working as an illustrator. Ruth’s artistic training is unclear, but her family proved to be very important in her future work. Several of her early jobs were linked to her brother, Frank J. Taylor (1894-1972). Frank was a journalist and writer, served in World War I, and attended Stanford University. That school connection probably helped Ruth earn one of her early commissions, the cover of the November 1927 The Stanford Illustrated Review.” swaen.com
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