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Richard Edes Harrison, cartographer, died at his home in Manhattan on
Wednesday. He was 92. Known as Ricki, he was a 1923 graduate in zoology from
Yale, where he also earned a degree in architecture. He used the architectural
skills in developing his unique cartographic style. He had his own firm, but
he also worked for Time-Life, and perhaps gained his main notoriety from the
landmark maps he produced for Fortune Magazine in 1940+.
 
During World War II his contribution was to citizen awareness of the geographi
c stage on which the war played havoc. His maps in Fortune had a tremendous
impact through their outstanding design and presentation. It was a most
effective use of mass media and maps for the education of the public in a time
of crisis.
 
He was a grand story teller, and host, in his townhouse on the east side of
Manhattan. He hosted the Special Libraries Association Geography & Map
Division more than once, and the New York Chapter Geography & Map Group
several times.
He visited the Map Division, NYPL, in recent years on occasion, and was not
above playing stump the librarian. He also expressed great pride in the Rand
McNally Cosmopolitan Atlas which he had worked on, and claimed it was better
than anything produced twenty years later!
 
We enjoyed his spirit, his humor, and his artistry. What's the expression,
"they don't make them that way anymore..."
 
Alice Hudson, Chief, Map Division, NYPL
 
Note: obit is in New York Times, Friday, January 7, p. A22, perhaps different
paging in "national" edition.