My Friend, Tom Loback (1949–2015)

Tom with his wife, Susan

In Memoriam

Tom Loback (1949–2015) was a well-known illustrator, linguist, and artist of Tolkien’s writings. In the 1990s his illustrations were popular in Beyond Bree (whose logo he designed), Vinyar Tengwar, Little Gwaihir, Mythlore, and Parma Eldalamberon. As an Elvish linguist, Tom often incorporated Sindarin and Quenya script written in cirth and tengwar into his art. His depiction of Fingolfin in full battle glory recently appeared as the cover art on The Hobbit and Tolkien’s Mythology: Essays on Revisions and Influences (McFarland, 2014). In the last two years, Tom was able to complete two large triptychs of Tolkien art, one on Fëanor and the creation of the Silmarils, and the other on the War of Wrath at the end of the First Age; he was working on a triptych of the Dagor Dagorath (Battle of Battles) before his untimely death. Tom was also well known in the New York area as an off-Broadway play producer, model soldier designer and painter, and maker of impromptu driftwood structures along the Hudson River often featured in the New York Times and other media. Much of his artwork can be viewed through online galleries, notably one at http://www.elvish.org/gwaith/tom_loback.htm.

From the Tolkien Studies, vol. XII (2015), p. vii: