Future Phoenix Comes True

January 5, 2011

I gave a talk last night down at the Phoenix Art Institute. My good friend Robert Steinhilber (he has done the title lettering on all my old west books), invited me to speak to the Tiny Army, which is a group of animators, cartoonists, graphic designers and photographers. I gave them a Cliff Notes take on my checkered career, starting back in 1972 with the very first Razz Revue, up through Honytonk Sue and my work at New Times, and on through the Old West books and True West magazine.

I wanted to show some of the youngsters how primitive it was in the old days to paste up a page, so I grabbed a layout board from my Low Blows series. Here's the layout:

Seems ancient by today's standards. Notice the type pasted down on the blue grid boards (the camera that shot these boards and turned them into printing plates did not see blue, thus the outdated term "Blue Line," which was printer slang for looking at the paste ups before going to plates.

What's kind of amazing about this board is that it is a prediction piece I did from 1983. I'm making wild, absurd predictions about what life will be like in Phoenix in 1999 at the end of the millenium. Many of these crazy predictions actually came true:

• The Suns choked in playoffs, again. Duh.

• Even transients will be using computers. Yikes! I didn't dream I'd see transients checking messages on their iPhones, but I see it every day now.

• No alleged recruiting violations at ASU this year, speaks for itself.

• I personally have stood on the corner of Cave Creek Road and Dynamite and said, "Back in 1983 I could have bought this land for $10,000 an acre."

Close, Dang Close

• Christown and Metro Center were at the height of their mall glory in 1983 and my prediction that they will be leveled for urban development is dang close to being true in 2012.

• The Stones haven't played the Sundome yet, but Linda Ronstadt has.

"In the year 2525 will man still be alive?"
—Dumb song from that period