More trips in the hopper. Going to attend the Golden Boot Awards (the Westerns’ version of the Oscars) in Hollywood next month. Never been before. Also, Kathy and I are flying to New York in August to meet Bob Brink who has corralled a meeting with a certain network. Quite exciting. I’m actually as thrilled about getting the Hearst tour of NY and seeing Bob’s World as I am of the opportunity to have a TV show. Of course, the kids are there and we hope to rendezvous with them. It’s shaping up as a very busy summer.
Took some of my key women to lunch yesterday. Sue H. is going to go across the hall to sales. Samantha is taking over the front store and subscriptions, etc. Wanted to talk about the transition and ideas. Carole, Sue and “Sam” had excellent ideas for promotions, T-shirts and marketing. Ate too much (had the special: red chile burro and chicken taco, $42 biz account). I’m lucky to have such competent, talented women working for me.
As I mentioned yesterday, Gus turned out some excellent Vera stamp ideas.
Here they are. Which one do you think has the most potential to end up as an official U.S. postage stamp? Email us with your vote here.
Came home at 5:30 and swam laps. Read the new Esquire with J.Lo on the cover (R.G. had never heard of J.Lo, such a sheltered boy). Quite cutting edge. Excellent cover design and inside graphics. Had a design meeting at two yesterday with Robert R., Abby, Gus and Meghan. Decided we don’t always need sub-heds (Meghan’s leap of imagination) and we need to develop our own version of the sans serif sidebar, a la Esquire. Good meeting.
Going to shoot Abby today in the I Dig Billy t-shirt. Need to bring in the shovel (the actual one I used to draw the design) and a book on Maynard Dixon. We’re featuring him in Christmas Art of The True West. He is one of my heroes. Came out to Arizona about 1901 from San Francisco. Sketched his way from Fort Mojave to Oatman, Kingman, Phoenix, Tempe, Tucson and one of his notes reflects how crazy all the anglos thought he was. To paraphrase him, You were either a cowboy or a miner and the idea that someone would be in Arizona for the art of it was just unbelievable to everyone I met. Funny. He is a great draftsman and painter. Ed Mell turned me on to him (in fact Ed owns several originals and every time I go to his house, I drool on his couch). Speaking of Ed, he and I and Robert R. are planning a road trip back to Lincoln for the Bell memorial service (the Bell who Billy the Kid killed, not me). That’s in two weeks.
“The secret of a happy life? Accept change gracefully.”
—Jimmy Stewart.