SARASOTA, FLORIDA.- Illustrator Thomas B. Allen died at his home in Sarasota, Florida at the age of 76. He first studied formal painting at the Art Institute of Chicago in the 1950’s. He was born in Nashville on January 28, 1928. He studied at Vanderbilt University and then left for the Art Institute. He then joined the Marines. Later he did illustrations and paintings for Esquire. Other magazines such as Seventeen, Colliers, McCall's and Sports Illustrated. He also did advertising work for NBC. CBS records hired him to illustrate jazz album covers, "The Jazz Odyssey of James Rushing, Esq."