About the Designer

As the book’s designer and art director, James Dissette played an integral role in the creation of Freedom Pancakes for Ukraine. He was initially engaged to oversee the book’s design but this position soon expanded to include other important aspects. James worked as the liaison between the artist Yana Holubiatnikova in Kherson, Ukraine and author Janice Cohn in New Jersey, USA, quite a feat as he doesn’t speak a word of Ukrainian. James communicated with Yana about each piece of artwork via WhatsApp, passing along Janice’s ideas and requirements, using Google to translate the English into Ukrainian.

James is proud of the part he played in bringing Freedom Pancakes for Ukraine into the world. He has been especially moved by the thread that connects him to Yana and to what is happening in Ukraine, a constant reminder that we must cast our sights beyond our daily lives and see how we can impact other lives for the better.

James has been a journalist and book designer for more than 30 years. Under his imprints, Chester River Press and Mad Parrot Press, he designs books for the trade and prints limited edition letterpress fine books. Currently, he works for the Harold Grinspoon Foundation in Massachusetts and Israel and is in the process of designing a new limited edition fine book, the E.M. Forster short story The Machine Stops. Chester River Press won the prestigious Hertzog book design award in 2011 for the limited edition of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.

James lives on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and is the Publisher and Editor of The Chestertown Spy.