List of Books by Alston W. Purvis. See all books authored by Alston W. Purvis

About Alston W. Purvis

Philip Alston Willcox Purvis (born 1943), son of Melvin Purvis, is an American graphic designer, artist, professor and author.


He received his BFA in graphic design from Virginia Commonwealth University and an MFA in graphic design, Yale University. He was an art tutor at The Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, The Netherlands. He currently is an associate professor at Boston University College of Fine Arts where he has been chairman of the department since September 1982. He served as Director Ad Interim for the School of Visual Arts at the Boston University College of Communication (1969); and the University of South Carolina. He has presented lectures at the American Institute of Graphic Arts, the Wolfsonian Foundation at Florida International University, and many other venues. He has written several books. He wrote a biography of his father, Melvin Purvis and his feud with J. Edgar Hoover, The Vendetta: FBI Hero Melvin Purvis’s War Against Crime and J. Edgar Hoover’s War Against Him.