With Tomie’s art-mail for Bagpipe Appreciation Day from 2017. (Bob) Pray for Peace, Justice, and Equality
REMEMBERING TOMIE on July 26, 2020
(Illustration from the book, ONCE UPON A DINKELSBUHL, by Patricia Lee Gauch, illustrated by Tomie, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, Copyright 1977.) The above caption: In this German legend told by Patricia Lee Gauch, a girl dissuades the attacking soldiers with kindness. It was one of many children’s book illustrations in the 1992 Peace Calendar from the War Resisters League. Pauline Lurie, editor, wrote… “We suggest these books, poems, illustrations and lyrics as an antidote to the loud and shrill messages our kids hear so often. These marvelous works have been created by artists who believe that their work can make a difference, that reading is a pleasure and that our children, our future, must be treated with respect.” An illustration from Tomie’s book, THE HUNTER AND THE ANIMALS, was used on the cover of the calendar. HUNTER is currently out-of-print and publishers are too anxious to bring it back into print in today’s world. (Bob) Pray for Peace, Justice, and Equality
REMEMBERING TOMIE on July 25, 2020
Tomie’s parents gave him a trip to Europe after he graduated from Pratt Institute. Tomie went with a religious studies group comprised mostly of women of an age. The group traveled to Europe on the Italian ocean liner SS Andrea Doria. It was on the Andrea Doria’s return voyage to the U.S. that it collided with the MS Stockholm of the Swedish American Line off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, on July 25, 1956. It sank on July 26, 1956. Filmmaker and photojournalist Peter Gimbel produced two documentaries about the Andrea Doria. He opened the safe on live television in 1984 in the second documentary. We were watching and were surprised when a traveler’s cheque was shown with the signature of “Thomas DePaola.” During the voyage to Europe, Tomie had sneaked into the First Class lounge and paid for his drink with a traveler’s cheque. He had used a waterproof ink to sign his name. I had been trying for ages to find this clip to show Tomie. I didn’t discover it until last night. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaYbcCCCFMU Go to the time of 13:40. (Bob) Pray for Peace, Justice, and Equality
REMEMBERING TOMIE on July 24, 2020
One of Tomie’s favorite media escorts was Kathi Kamen Goldmark in the Bay Area of California. Kathi had ties to the world of rock ‘n’ roll, and was instrumental in forming a band of authors called the Rock Bottom Remainders. Stephen King, Amy Tan, Dave Barry, and Barbara Kingsolver were some of the band members. The group was scheduled to perform for the first time at a booksellers’ and publishers’ convention in the Los Angeles area in the early ‘90s. Kathi asked Tomie to be First Kazooist, an honor indeed. But Tomie arrived in Los Angeles, after a tour of West Coast bookstores, with laryngitis and couldn’t kazoo to the best of his abilities. So, he didn’t perform with the group. Some years later, Kathi organized a two-CD set called “Stranger Than Fiction,” featuring the Wrockers. The Wrockers included book industry folks: Maya Angelou, Ken Follett, Molly Ivins, Norman Mailer, Robert Reich, Jessica Mitford, Tomie, and many others. Tomie went to a recording studio in New York City to record his track with backup singers. Tomie’s bio read: “When he was three years old, he wanted to be Shirley Temple. This is his chance.” Tomie sang “On the Good Ship Lollipop.” “Stranger Than Fiction” and Tomie’s single are available on iTunes, Google Play Music, Spotify, and elsewhere. I haven’t found Tomie’s instrument - the kazoo - in his studio, but I imagine I will someday. (Bob) Pray for Peace, Justice, and Equality.
REMEMBERING TOMIE on July 23, 2020
Tomie was a contributor to THE CAT ON MY SHOULDER: WRITERS AND THEIR CATS, edited by Lisa Angowski Rogak, Longmeadow Press, 1993. Among the eclectic group of 44 contributors were: Alice Adams, Helen Gurley Brown, Edward Gorey, Sue Grafton, Kitty Kelley, Joyce Carol Oates, Cokie Roberts, and Charles Simic. Tomie wrote (seriously abridged), “…I’ve had about eight cats… Once people own an Abyssinian, they’re spoiled for life… They’re beautiful, very affectionate and friendly, and they don’t meow — just a little ee… I think my cats have had a lot of influence in my artwork, but not so much my writing. You live with a cat like the Abby, and you have a good moving design around you all the time. I’m always so aware of the ways my cats will arrange themselves in the perfect way, and they never sit on anything that doesn’t complement their color… I think that just having this beautiful living object around really does keep me visually aware… It sure would be a cushy life to come back as an indoor cat.” (Bob) Pray for Peace, Justice, and Equality
