Trekkie Parsons

Trekkie (Ritchie) Parsons (1902 – July 24, 1995) was an English artist and lithographer, perhaps best known as the lover of Leonard Woolf after his wife Virginia's death.

Background

She was born Marjorie Tulip Ritchie, in 1902 in Natal, South Africa, and studied at the Slade School of Fine Art in London. In 1934 she married Ian Parsons, an editor at Chatto & Windus.

She was the author and illustrator of Bells across the Sand - A Book of Rhymes with Pictures published by her husband's firm in 1944(?) lithographed throughout, printed by Chiswick Press in the same style and size as Puffin Picture Books. She also illustrated, and designed the cover for, The Three Rings by Barbara Baker (Hogarth Press, 1944), and designed the cover for the British edition of Newbery Medal winner Johnny Tremain (Chatto & Windus, 1944). Her lithographic technique is in the style of Barnett Freedman.

Trekkie had an unusual relationship with Leonard Woolf from 1941 until his death in 1969. She often spent the week with Leonard and the weekend with her husband. She had holidays and acted as hostess for them both separately. She wrote many letters to Leonard when they were apart, published in 1974 as Love Letters: Leonard Woolf and Trekkie Ritchie Parsons.

External links

• Love Letters: Leonard Woolf and Trekkie Ritchie Parsons, 1941-1968, ISBN 0-71266-473-4
• Obituary in The Independent (London)
• From Leonard Woolf: A Biography by Victoria Glendinning, Nov. 2006, ISBN 0-74324-653-5