Abstract
The death of William (Bill) T. Cooper, who died peacefully at his rainforest home in far north Queensland on 10 May 2015, aged 81 years, brought a sad end to the highly successful Joseph Forshaw- William Cooper publishing partnership of more than 40 years. His passing occurred just a few weeks after the publication of their final project, Pigeons and Doves in Australia, a beautifully presented book that maintains the exceptional standard of their books.
Bill Cooper and his wife Wendy worked for many years as a unique artistic team- Bill's meticulous attention to detail of habitat and surroundings combined with Wendy's botanical habitat and skill in identifying food plants have been the ingredients that made William T. Cooper bird illustrations unique. Durin their long partnership Wendy also wrote three botanical books including Fruits of the Australian Tropical Rainforest (2004) featuring 1,230 ilustrations and 2,440 species in the text!
Bill Cooper left school at 15 and was almost a self-taught artist. It was fortuitous that he was befriended by Sir William Dobell who advised him not to attend art...