It was Chef’s 15th birthday last Saturday. His mother had arranged for a celebratory parade of vehicles through our neighborhood, including fire trucks and a police car. Chef’s parade reminded me of the time when an antique New London fire truck, filled with children, woke up Tomie on his 50th birthday, September 15, 1984. Janet and David Kidder, and others, had organized this greeting. (Thanks to Kathleen Belko for the photos.) (Bob)
REMEMBERING TOMIE on May 15, 2020
2008. Tomie stood in front of his Irish grandparents’ home in Wallingford, CT. That is, Tom, Nana Downstairs, and Nana Upstairs. Sister Judie remembered the house was painted a dark gray and there wasn’t a fence. (Bob)
REMEMBERING TOMIE on May 14, 2020
Laurent Linn was Tomie’s art director at Simon & Schuster. Laurent’s novel, DRAW THE LINE, was published in 2016. “Debut author Laurent Linn writes a charged story … about discovering your own superpowers, deciding how to use them, and where to draw the line.” The publisher held a Superpower Sweepstakes and to promote it, Tomie created a drawing and statement about himself as Superhero. “FIRST, you have to know that I didn’t like SPORTS, and I wasn’t good at them either! So, of course, I was bullied. But, I was really good at ART. And I knew that that would be my JOB! (when I grew up) Then I became a SUPERHERO. I took TAP DANCING LESSONS and I was good at that, too! My BLACK, SHINY TAP SHOES BECAME MY ‘SECRET WEAPON.’ Whenever I PUT THEM ON AND DANCED, PEOPLE CLAPPED, AND SMILED, AND CHEERED! …AND I BECAME ‘SENOR SWING, SUPER HERO.’ (My dancing teacher, Miss Leah, called me Senor Swing.)” Follow the link to see the drawing accompanying the statement. http://www.drawthelinenovel.com/enter-the-sweepstakes (Bob)
REMEMBERING TOMIE on May 13, 2020
The National Catholic AIDS Ministry Conference was held at the University of Notre Dame during the summer of 1988. It was the first national gathering of people working in HIV/AIDS ministry, and was focused on helping the Catholic Church respond with compassion and understanding to the HIV/AIDS crisis. Sister Marie and Jay Pinkerton asked Tomie to create a drawing that could be used on conference materials. Jay wanted a Good Shepherd drawing. They didn’t want portrayed “the one who strayed.” They talked about “the ones outside the fold, the ones who were ostracized.” As is common in the best lively back-and-forth editor/client/art director/artist conversations, they eventually settled on an image and concept they all liked… in this instance, black sheep. Black sheep were not bad. Black sheep were ostracized by the group. I thank Jay for reminding me of this drawing and story. (Bob)
REMEMBERING TOMIE on May 12, 2020
2009. Tomie and Julie Andrews in the “Green Room” prior to the BookExpo Children’s Book & Author Breakfast in New York City. After listening to Judy Collins at Pratt Institute’s commencement weeks earlier, Tomie knew what he would do when he spoke during the Children’s Breakfast. Julie Andrews was scheduled to be the host/hostess. In his classic audacious style, he began, “OK, let’s just get this over with,” and he serenaded Julie Andrews with a song from “The Sound of Music.” He then told the audience that he had spent several evenings with Julie Andrews when they were younger. Tomie was 20 in 1954 and Julie Andrews was 19 when he saw her, several times, make her American stage debut on Broadway in “The Boy Friend.” (Bob)
