October 22, 2009
Another one of my old Kingman classmates has passed. Steve Whaley, who had been sick for some time, died earlier this week. When he was being wheeled into the emergency room for one of his operations, the nurses asked him how he was doing and he replied, "I think my water broke." Funny guy. According to our class governor, Mickey Campa, we have lost 23 out of 128.

Speaking of Kingman, the long-awaited "Perfect Exit" DVDs are finished and I pick them up tomorrow. If, for some demented reason, you have to have one, I'll post prices and shipping info here early next week.

News From The Front Lines
Got a call from a subscriber this morning, who insisted on talking to me:

“I look forward to a problem just so I can talk to the fantastic people at True West. You have the best people working for you that I have ever encountered.”
—Chris Gateley, former XIT cowboy, Lathrop, Missouri

That would be Lynda and Carole, who woman our phones.

This Has Been A Test
Yesterday, I ran an actual history question from Paul Hutton’s class at the University of New Mexico:

18. Benjamin Franklin’s colonial publication that expressed this homespun philosophy:

a. Common Sense
b. The Federalist Papers
c. True West
d. Poor Richard’s Almanac

Which led to this inquiry:

"Please tell me that none of Paul's college students got that wrong. I knew the answer and haven't had a history class in almost ::mmummbble:: forty years."
—Mary Fiore

So, I emailed the Distinguished Professor and got this response:

"BBB: While my 160 students did quite well on the exam a few missed the Franklin question and one of them indeed selected True West as the answer. PH"

I Can't Believe I Drew It
Another astounding (to me) page from my 17 sketchbooks:

This was from April, 20, 2008, mere weeks after my heart attack. These were studies for a cover painting I did for Dime Novel Desperadoes: The Notorious Maxwell Brothers by John E. Hallwas. Yes, that's Dave Daiss at upper left.

"Be regular and orderly in your life, that you may be violent and original in your work."
—Clive Barker