Tomie was a big fan of Ethel Merman and her performances. Whenever Ethel was on the car radio, or on the TV music channel, he would sing along with Ethel. If he didn’t sing along with Ethel, I knew he wasn’t feeling well. I didn’t need to touch his forehead or use a thermometer to check his temperature. Something wasn’t right. “OK, Tomie,” I’d say. “We’re heading to the Emergency Room.” Friend Charles Massey discovered this video collection of Ethel Merman performances on the Playbill website. Tomie would have loved. https://playbill.com/article/13-ethel-merman-videos-getting-us-through-stayathome (Bob)
REMEMBERING TOMIE on May 25, 2020
For Memorial Day, here’s a drawing of Tomie’s from 1960. The National Moment of Remembrance - pause your life for one minute to remember those who died in military service to the U.S. - is at 3:00 p.m., local time. (Bob)
REMEMBERING TOMIE on May 24, 2020
It’s perfect kite-flying weather in New Hampshire. Go fly a kite, people! This is an illustration Tomie did in 2004 for SCBWI’s January/February 2005 Bulletin cover. The kite is a symbol of the organization. SCBWI’s annual summer conference in Los Angeles has turned into an Online Summer Spectacular. Tomie was passionate about SCBWI, co-created by friend Lin Oliver. https://www.scbwi.org/events/scbwi-summer-spectacular-2020/ (Bob)
REMEMBERING TOMIE on May 23, 2020
It was no secret that I thought Tomie talked… maybe… possibly… just an itty bitty too much. He made fun of this in his illustration for Arnold L. Shapiro’s poem, “I Speak, I Say, I Talk,” in TOMIE DEPAOLA’S BOOK OF POEMS in 1988. I was fascinated that he could show the dog and cats agreeing with me by simple lines (dog) and placement of eyes (cats). Decades ago, I was working on the arrangements for a speaking engagement at some institution in some city, and my contact asked, “Could Tomie speak for twenty minutes?” I began to chuckle and said, “I don’t think he can.” She understood. One hour, two hours, yes. Twenty minutes, no… just getting warmed up. Another chatty memory was when Judith Rosen of PUBLISHERS WEEKLY was trying to interview Tomie about his newest book. No matter how hard she tried to get him to focus on the new book, he was only interested in talking about other things. Judith mentioned in her article the distraction of the bride and groom photo session, but didn’t mention the homeless man urinating several feet from us. Unfazed, Tomie talked. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/interviews/article/59792-250-children-s-books-and-counting-a-conversation-with-tomie-depaola.html (Bob)
REMEMBERING TOMIE on May 22, 2020
2014. The New Hampshire Humanities Council created a cultural map of New Hampshire. Here’s a small section of the map, and, oh, look! There’s Strega Nona in the middle in New London! Tomie loved that he was map-worthy. https://www.nhhumanities.org/nh-humanities-interactive-map (Bob)
