Earle Goodenow was born in 1910 in Chicago. He was the youngest of three sons of Lucene Goodenow, a nationally recognized painter and sculptor whose carved ivory portraits were exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington D.C., and Kyohei Inukai, an internationally known watercolor portrait artist whose family emigrated from Japan when he was a young boy. He was awarded the Maynard Prize in 1926 from the National Academy of Design.
Mr. Goodenow (who, along with his brothers Julian and Girard, adopted their mother’s name after her divorce from Inukai) was nationally known for his humorous illustrations, particularly in children’s books, such as The Bashful Bear, The Lazy Llama, The Careless Kangaroo, The Peevish Penguin, The Owl Who Hated the Dark and The Last Camel. His best work, however, is widely agreed to be Arabian Nights, with its detailed, colorful illustrations.
Mr. Goodenow lived and worked in the New York City area and had two daughters. He died in 1985.