Mel Hunter

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For a generation of young space enthusiasts and science fiction fans that came of age during the Sputnik era, the art of the late Mel Hunter of Ferrisburgh, Vermont, USA, was a significant part of what made exploring outer space, and the what-if worlds of the imagination, so awe inspiring.

Hunter, who died in Vermont of cancer in February 2004, was best known for visualizing the classic works of authors Isaac Asimov, John Campbell, Jr., Robert A. Heinlein, L. Sprague deCamp, Frederick Pohl, and L. Ron Hubbard - among others.

True to his final wish, the cremated remains of this multi-talented artist, aviation expert, and amateur astronomer will be placed aboard a Falcon-1 rocket and launched into space. The private launch, coordinated by Space Services Inc. from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, will also contain the cremains of NASA astronaut L. Gordon Cooper, "Star Trek" actor James (Scottie) Doohan, and Indian space futurist and environmentalist Dr. Rashmi Mayur. The remains of the men will be part of the so-called "Explorers Flight" set to launch in 2007.

Hunter shared the final years of life with his third wife, Rutland, Vermont native sculptor Susan Smith-Hunter. The couple opened the Smith-Hunter Gallery during the 1980s at their Ferrisburgh home. The gallery remains open and continues to showcase the works of both artists. It is located on Route 7 just south of the Rokeby Museum in Ferrisburgh, Vt.

Smith-Hunter-former art professor and chairwoman of Green Mountain College's Visual and Performing Arts Department-is making sure that her late husband's legacy is kept alive for a new generation of space and aviation enthusiasts as well as art collectors.

"Mel launched a career in scientific illustration after he was an established science-fiction illustrator," said Smith-Hunter. "He was very technically accurate and was commissioned to complete 26 paintings of celestial objects for the Hayden Planetarium in New York City."^{[citation needed]}

Hunter's love of air and space took him from California's desert runways to Florida's seacoast launchpads to illustrate every variety of jet-age aircraft and space-age rocket imaginable—from X-15 to Saturn V.

One of Hunter's best-known books is "The Missilemen", a photo illustrated work published in 1960 by Doubleday. Hunter visited United States rocket and missile sites during the late 1950s; he took all of the book's black-and-white photographs. It was a unique document, a rare look inside the world of rocket scientists and engineers of the early space age. The book, long out of print, is enshrined as a part of space history itself. Another Hunter book, "Strategic Air Command", was also recognized as a pioneering work in photojournalism; it received the Aviation Writers' Association highest honors in 1961.

Ironically, Mel Hunter's talents had their roots in a troubled childhood in Oak Park, Illinois, where he was physically and psychologically abused by a humorless father.

"Mel never knew his mother because she was banished from the household by his father when he was only two years old," said Smith-Hunter. "While he never forgot the abuse, he didn't seem to dwell on it. Instead, he poured himself into his work and career."^{[citation needed]}

With a growing understanding of the fields of astronomy, astronautics, and aviation Hunter set out to teach himself book and magazine illustration. He moved to New York City during the early 1950s.

During that time, the most lucrative outlet for space artists was the science-fiction genre. Along with a fertile imagination, Hunter coupled his art with realism and technical accuracy; he soon sold his first work to Galaxy magazine, one of the popular digests of science fiction's so-called "golden age". Hunter's whimsical sci-fi robots became his signature to thousands of science fiction fans; the skeletal steel robots graced the covers of the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction well into the 1970s. Hunter's lonely robots were often depicted walking solo through the desolate landscapes of nuclear ruins or alien planets.

"Mel's science fiction art quickly led to illustrating hard science and the most advanced aerospace technology of the time," said Smith-Hunter. "He went to work for Northrop Aircraft as a concept illustrator. He painted advanced interceptors and drone bombers-all done for Pentagon officials to evaluate when awarding R&D contracts."^{[citation needed]}

Hunter's popularity was literally taking off by the mid 1960s. He created thousands of highly detailed illustrations and paintings for National Geographic, Newsweek, Time-Life Books, and other publications. If astute readers didn't know Hunter by name, they could certainly identify his distinctive style and subjects.

Hunter was quick to adopt Vermont as a new home. It was close to New York City publishers but far enough away to be closer to nature. After owning galleries in Grafton and Burlington, Hunter settled on his final gallery in Ferrisburgh.

"He loved this place which is set back from the highway," said Smith-Hunter. "He spent the last years of life printmaking and producing many New England landscapes and seascapes-many from memories of various travels. He also loved nature and created wonderful animal-centered works, too."^{[citation needed]}

To learn more about the art of Mel Hunter and Susan Smith-Hunter visit: http://www.smithhuntergallery.com/index.html. The Smith-Hunter Gallery is located at 4235 Route 7 in Ferrisbugh, just south of the Rokeby Museum. Call 877-3719 for gallery hours.