Born Ronald Kirby in 1928 in England. Josh Kirby was made famous for his amusing and extremely detailed cover illustrations of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels. Prior to illustrating the first Discworld novel The Colour of Magic, though, Josh Kirby was already a respected cover illustrator for science fiction and fantasy novels.

Josh Kirby died in his sleep on October 23, 2001 at the age of 72. He will certainly be missed by many many fans throughout the (Disc) world.

"I only invented the Discworld. Josh created it."
--Terry Pratchett