The Newton TAB reports that the Newton Free Library threw a party to celebrate Newton sculptor Nancy Schôn’s 90th birthday this past week. Ms. Schôn created the beloved Winnie the Pooh and Friends bronze sculptures in the library garden as well as the iconic Make Way for Ducklings in Boston’s Public Gardens.
She’s 90 and going strong. I tracked her down and called her out of the blue a few months ago in connection with a misguided project I was trying to hatch, She was wonderfully gracious, funny, helpful, and knowledgeable – particularly since I was just a random stranger calling her out of the blue.
My project turned out to be impractical but the highlight was definitely talking to this wonderfully talented sculptor who lives and sculpts with a permanent twinkle in her eye. Happy birthday Nancy Schôn.
Indeed, Nancy is a very special person. She was so gracious to my grandchildren when I took them to see the exhibit of her works at the Wenham Museum a couple of years ago. Even now when we are at the Ducklings in the Boston Garden or at the statues at the back of the Newton Library, they say with awe and gratitude “The sculptor made them so we could climb on them”.
Happy birthday, Mrs. Schön, and thank you for creating so much happiness!
Jerry. Thank you for this wonderful post on Nancy Schon. I didn’t know she sculpted Make Way for Ducklings in Boston. The book was among my favorite childhood reads. Another Newton treasure.
Happy birthday, indeed. Going strong at 90 is what I aspire to!
Can you make that tilde an umlaut, though?