WILLISTON, VT. †Wendell D. Garrett, a leading authority on American decorative arts and the field’s best known spokesman, died Wednesday morning, November 14, at the Vermont Respite House, where he had recently moved from Manhattan to be near his family. Garrett, who was born in 1929, had been in deteriorating health. He joined the staff of The Magazine Antiques in 1966 and was named its editor in 1972, a position he held until 1990. He continued as the magazine’s editor at large until his death, penning 474 editorials in 40 years. After leaving Antiques , he joined Sotheby’s as a senior vice president in the American Decorative Arts department. The widely published author was a regular guest on PBS’s Antiques Road Show . He received the Henry Francis du Pont Award for distinguished contribution to the American arts in 1994 and a decade later was honored with an Award of Merit by the Antiques Dealers Association of America. He leaves a brother, Ronald Garrett; his first wife, Jane N. Garrett; his second wife, Elisabeth Donaghy Garrett Widmer; his three children and their spouses: Maria Garrett and Miguel de Lievano, Abigail Garrett and Matthew Looft, Nathaniel Garrett and Michelle Mulkey; and four grandchildren. A celebration of Garrett’s life is planned for January during Americana Week in New York. A tribute to Garrett will follow in the next issue of Antiques and The Arts Weekly .