August 22, 2002
Finished another art piece on Butch and Sundance of them at their last holdup in Bolivia wearing dark red corderoy suits and hats with narrow brims pulled down. They look more like gangsters, but that’s the point. Tried to stay true to the eye-witness description of them. Had to fight the urge to make them into cowboy outlaws.

Had another image review in office to try and make sure we don’t miss any main photos. There’s so much stuff to plug I’m afraid we’ll miss something big. Deadline is tomorrow. Going to be tight.

Subscription expert Allen Greer came in from San Diego and took Carole and I to lunch at Tonto Bar & Grill (he bought). Good talk about the tough biz of mag circulation (he thinks it's the toughest business in the world, bar none). He had several good ideas for us. He’s going to work up a proposal.

Picked up photos at Foothills Photo ($14 Sue debit), then drove cover roughs and scans down to Daniel Harshberger’s (art director) in Phoenix (27 miles). We mulled two cover concepts: a dramatic cover (Butch & Sundance Ride Into Hell!) and a more traditional take (Butch & Sundance: The Last Ride). Anxious to see what Dan comes up with. He also redesigned our logo and we’ll introduce that on this cover (Nov.-Dec.).

Drove back out to Cave Creek, listening to NPR. Heard a great story about the minor league catcher who threw a peeled potato in a game in Williamsport, PA. He was fired, fined, the town hated him, wanted him banned, etc., then Paul Harvey did a bit on him, the town invites him back, retires his number, has a potato night, of course, everyone in town remembers being at the game and how much they approved of what he did. The event becomes legendary. So telling and instructive about events. They are so organic. Also it's insightful about fame, legends, fickle audiences, group dynamics. The kicker: the catcher is now a real estate agent in Phoenix. Ha.

Got home, swam laps. Looked for art reference for a dusk scene of Butch & Sundance riding into doom at San Vicente. Found several good ref., one an Andrew Wyeth, another a Frank Tenney Johnson scene. Hope to bail into this in the morning.