February 28, 2003
Rain, hail, snow, we had it all yesterday. Big storm rolled across Cave Creeek in the afternoon. Wet, wet, wet.

Great day in office yesterday. Bob Brink brought in Allen Waxenberg one of his star publishers at Hearst. The three of us sat in the conference room and Allen asked many questions about True West. He was quite complimentary of our efforts and had good suggestions and observations. We went to lunch afterwards and I heard many war stories about life in the big leagues. It’s a rough business we are in and the moral I got is it doesn’t get any easier at the top.

Holding our breath on ad sales for May-June issue. Deadline is today. Mike Melrose is really gutting it out in a very short cycle. He is a very hard worker and I have faith in him. He’s also very funny. When I asked Bob Brink if it was true that Hearst paid Bill Clinton $250,000 to speak at the recent Hearst confab in Phoenix, Mike quipped, “Yes, and two interns.”

Came home at 3:30 and tried to get untracked on art. Really frustrating. I have a Custer image in my head, I have oodles of photo reference (Custer was one of the most photographed men of his time. I have two books that are all photos of the boy general). Worked until around 10 trying to discover the secrets of his face. He has the long hair and drooping mustache but his cheekbones are extraordinary. They really are pronounced. Here’s a few of my attempts.

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“All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.”
—Old Vaquero Saying