Waldo (Wally) Hunt, considered by many to be the father of the modern pop-up book industry, died on November 6, three weeks shy of his 89th birthday. Through his three companies—Graphics International, Intervisual Communications and finally Intervisual Books—Hunt pioneered the creating, producing, and marketing of pop-up interactive books, and Hunt’s companies dominated the pop-up book business from the 1960s until the late 1990s. Hunt sold Graphics International to Hallmark in the late 1960s and stayed with the company until 1974, when he started Intervisual Communications and then Intervisual Books. As demand for pop-ups slowed, Intervisual tried a number of different strategies and founded the children’s publisher Piggy Toes Press. The company was sold in 2002 and is now part of Books-A-Million’s Dalmatian Press division.
A wake is planned for December 5 in Springville, Calif. Donations can be made in the name of Wally’s wife, Patricia Hunt, to: The Roger S. Good Cancer Treatment Center, 465 West Putnam, Porterville, CA 93257.
