September 17, 2004
Our sales staff has really kicked it in and we are getting set to publish the biggest and boldest Holiday issue we have ever done. Can’t say enough about Mike, Sue, Crystal and Julie. They are working strong as a team and it shows.

Also, my production people came through and did a series of movie posters that tickle me to no end. Illustrating Allen Barra’s “The Ten Greatest Westerns Never Made” Robert took three, assigned two to Gus and Abby and Dan Harshberger did one and I’ve got to tell you, they are all believable as movie posters. We all went to lunch today at Satisfied Frog and laughed about it ($11 cash, chicken caesar salad and iced tea). Robert thinks the Elfego Baca poster is the one most likely to be made into a real movie. He’s right (very strong story and amazing that Hollywood has missed it all these years). Afterwards, Gus, Robert and I dropped by the Cave Creek Museum to see the display on a certain Cave Creek cartoonist. Funny to see ones-self in a museum. Ha.

Samantha took a call from a guy who wanted to buy the Doc Holliday issue from two years ago (it says sold out on our ads but he wanted to know if we had found any). Samantha told him that we had, in fact, found two in the warehouse and were about to put them on e-bay for bid. He said he’d pay $100 for the privilege of having one and Sam said, “Sold.” Amazing. Just amazing. For a back issue!

Wrote up my editorial for the November-December issue and laid in artwork of Curly Bill Brocius, including a new illustration of Powers Booth as Curly. Gus also placed a few images in the CGII book. Can’t wait to show you some of those.

At five, Carole drove me up to Kathy’s office. She got in a fender bender in the parking lot of Bashas’ and the bender guy drove her car down into Phoenix to get it fixed. We got some groceries at Bashas’ ($78 house account) and brought it down to True West to eat supper (Iowa term) and Robert Ray was still in the office working (6:40 p.m.). Gave him part of a Corona and a lime, while Kathy and I ate in the conference room. Got the call that the car won’t be done until morning and took off for home. I’ve got lots of photos to show you, including the Northfield raid, the Northfield newskids, my latest painting of Mickey Free and those fabulous Iowa Rock ‘N’ Roll hall of famers the “Guys With the Pizza Advertisement On Their Drums!”

“The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits.”
—Old Vaquero Saying
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