Gentry, Helen, 1897-

Helen "Billy" Gentry (1897-1988) was a printer, book designer, and typographer. Trained in fine bookmaking and printing at the Grabhorn Press in San Francisco, she started the Helen Gentry Press in 1930. In 1934, she moved with her husband David Greenhood to New York, where she did design work for Simon and Schuster and other publishing houses, including designing the classic 1953 Harper & Brothers edition of the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. In 1935, she co-founded Holiday House with Vernon Ives and Ted Johnson, devoted to publishing well-designed children's books in fine bindings. Her work was often included in the American Institute of Graphic Arts' fifty best-designed books of the year, and appeared in an AIGA solo show in 1939. In 1963, Gentry moved with her husband to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she continued to work as a freelance designer.

Clarence David "Clink" Greenhood (1895-1983) wrote fiction, non-fiction, and poetry for adults and children, as well as editing books for Holiday House. He collaborated with his wife Helen Gentry on Chronology of Books & Printing (published by Helen Gentry Press in 1933, republished by Macmillan in 1936). His published works include Poems, et cetera and The Master Apprentice (both Helen Gentry Press, 1934); The Hill (Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1943); Down to Earth: Mapping for Everybody (Holiday House, 1944; revised and republished by University of Chicago Press as Mapping, 1964); Love in Dishevelment (Creative Age Press, 1948); Watch the Tides (Holiday House, 1961); and The Writer on His Own (University of New Mexico Press, 1971). He also published several articles for children under the pseudonym Mark Sawyer.

Biographical Information

Helen Gentry

Helen "Billy" Gentry (1897-1988) was a printer, book designer, and typographer. Born in California, she attended the University of California, Berkeley. She trained in fine bookmaking and printing at the Grabhorn Press in San Francisco -- where she was not allowed to do presswork, as Ed Grabhorn did not think it was a suitable job for a woman -- and further developed her skills working for a grocery store printing plant. In 1930, she started her own press, becoming one of the first contemporary women printers to do all aspects of the work herself. In 1934, she moved with her husband David Greenhood to New York, where she did design work for Simon and Schuster and other publishing houses, including designing the classic 1953 Harper & Brothers edition of the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. In 1935, she co-founded Holiday House with Vernon Ives and Ted Johnson, devoted to publishing well-designed children's books in fine bindings. Her work was often included in the American Institute of Graphic Arts' fifty best-designed books of the year, and appeared in an AIGA solo show in 1939. In 1963, Gentry moved with her husband to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she continued to work as a freelance designer.

David Greenhood

Clarence David "Clink" Greenhood (1895-1983) wrote fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for adults and children, as well as editing books for Holiday House. Born in Buffalo, New York in 1895, he moved to California in 1912 and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1922. At Berkeley he met Helen Gentry, and the pair married in 1923. Together they wrote Chronology of Books & Printing (published by Gentry Press in 1933, republished by Macmillan in 1936). His published works include Poems, et cetera and The Master Apprentice (both Gentry Press, 1934); The Hill (Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1943); Down to Earth: Mapping for Everybody (Holiday House, 1944; revised and republished by University of Chicago Press as Mapping, 1964); Love in Dishevelment (Creative Age Press, 1948); Watch the Tides (Holiday House, 1961); and The Writer on His Own (University of New Mexico Press, 1971). He also published several articles for children under the pseudonym Mark Sawyer.