Some research from Ed Bush of Painted Post, NY,

Alan,
Following up on your interesting idea that Carder may have had an influence on Littleton, I found the following in the book “Harvey K. Littleton, A Retrospective” by Joan F. Byrd, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, 1984.

Page 5 – “Although art glass was out of favor during the Depression and neither of his parents was interested in glass as an art medium, Littleton was aware of Frederick Carder, founder and art director of Steuben Glass, who lived nearby in a house with a lovely pear tree that hung invitingly over the alley on the way to the candy store. Many years later, when his interest focused on glass, Littleton came to admire Carder as a fighter and a rebel, but as he grew into his teens, he knew Carder only as a prominent local figure and a long-standing member of the board of education. Carder was responsible for including in the design of the Corning Free Academy a very large art room with a north skylight, where Littleton studied throughout his high school years.”

Page 9 – “Stopping in Corning to report the results of his research in Spain to Paul Perrot, then director of the Corning Museum of Glass, he visited Frederick Carder in his office at the old Steuben factory to announce his idea of working in hot glass.” (~1957)

Page 12 – “He stopped off in Corning to share his enthusiasm with the grand old man Frederick Carder. This was Littleton’s last visit with Carder, who died the following year at the age of one hundred.” (1962) It appears that they became very close, indeed.
Ed Bush