Is it possible to have a legacy when you are still alive? In Eric Carle's case, I think the answer is yes, especially because he and his wife founded a museum dedicated to the art of children's books.
Eric Carle has a fascinating life! Here are some tid-bits that I picked up from my reading. I am doing this mostly from memory, so don't count on this for 100% accuracy. I don't think I even close to capture the intensity of the things that happened to him in his life--watch this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmiBW305rsE with all the exciting details.
He lived in Syracuse with his German family and was early on deemed to be artistic. His father nurtured his artistic talent and they spent time walking and looking at things. Eric's family moved back to Germany because his mother was homesick. His dad ended up fighting in WW2 and spent time in a Russian prison--he came back a very broken man.
Eric was evacuated and lived with a foster family in the countryside (whom he loved dearly). He also had to dig trenches and saw people die in front of him. One of his teachers, while he was in Germany, showed him real art (not propaganda) and this was a great influence.
Eric missed his friends and wanted to go back to America. He got into advertising, worked for
Leo Lionni, got married, had two children, got divorced and lived alone for ten years. He then married Bobbie his current wife.
His first book was illustrating Bill Martin's Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do you See? His original idea for The Very Hungry Caterpillar was about a hungry worm, but his editor suggested he change it to a caterpillar.
Great article on him from The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/mar/14/eric-carle-author
His website: http://www.eric-carle.com/home.html
His museum in Massachusetts: http://www.carlemuseum.org/Home
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5aJRzDYijw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmiBW305rsE
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