Back in the Blog Saddle...

...and sorry I was away so long; Criswell predicted I'd be back, and so I am! I'll be catching up today and tomorrow, so check in frequently betwixt now and Friday.

First of all, the Garry Trudeau Center for Cartoon Studies day -- Monday -- was glorious. I'll be writing about it here in some detail, sans pics; suffice to say Garry's two hours with the students and faculty Monday AM was open, candid and quite amazing, really. Garry talked to everyone in the room as peers, fellow cartoonists, in contrast to his polished (and very funny) Monday night public presentation. For the students, he covered the expanse of his career, opening with the tale of his entry into the field, and fielded questions for almost 90 minutes of the two hours.

Monday night's event at the Northern Stage, Briggs Opera House in White River Junction was sold out, and Garry saw to it the paying customers got their $50 worth -- and more. He prepared an excellent, engaging and highly entertaining 90 minute talk, illustrated with video clip highlights (the 1977 Doonesbury TV special Garry did with John and Faith Hubley, a rousing tune from Rap Master Ronnie, two clips from his Robert Altman collaborations Tanner '88 and Tanner on Tanner, and a variety of clips from Duke's Motion-Capture animated interviews on Larry King, Today -- with Garry's wife Jane Pauley -- and more). Everyone had a fantastic time, a night to remember; CCS artists/students did well with their sales table in the lobby, as did Norwich Bookstore with three of Garry's latest books, and Garry signed everyone's purchases and items after stepping off stage.

[Note: Following up on my last post, I wasn't part of the program, and no regrets -- James and Michelle asked me to prepare to moderate, and I did, but once Garry arrived in WRJ on Sunday and explained his plans, James gave a call and I happily stepped down. Hey, no worries -- it was sweet to enjoy the evening sitting next to Marge in the audience; if CCS had needed me, I was ready. Otherwise, it was a pleasure to just savor the event, same as everyone else!]

More on Garry's visit to CCS in the coming days.

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A few friends emailed me in the past day or so to bring my attention (as I now bring your) to

Brian Hughes's Again With the Comics post, "Beyond Humanity Lies...The Hypernaut!"

I'm cool with Brian running this material, though I'll note for the record the copyrights are still the property of Alan, Rick and myself, and the copyrights and trademarks for The Fury, N-Man and The Hypernaut are my property (as of 1999). I'll alert Brian to that, but go take a look.

Brian had already dissected the subsequent 1963/Shadowhawk crossover -- here -- and it's good to see folks are still curious about this odd alternative universe Alan, Rick Veitch, yours truly and our cronies concocted waaaaaaaay back in '93.

As Marc Arsenault put it, "you've been Boinged, friend" bouncing me to

Mark Frauenfelder's BoingBoing: A Directory of Wonderful Things "Tales of the Uncanny -- cool Alan Moore comic from mid90s" post.

The beat goes on...
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Had I not been offline so many days, I'd have brought to your attention sooner the fact that

VT filmmaker Jayson Argento has pulled together a boat tour up north for this Friday, and here's the link for tickets if you're interested...

...a tour that includes my best friend (and Vermont's folklorist extraordinaire) Joe Citro!

Here's Jayson's most recent invite info:

"About a month ago I met Larry Holden for the first time. He, his wife Hanne and I became friends almost instantly as we sat and drank some beers by a pond somewhere in VT. He offered to be in my next film. The reason is because he is an incredibly generous person. He hadn’t even read the script. Larry believes in art and that it can change the world. Larry and Hanne are very close to the greatest and most amazing people I've ever met. To meet them is quite inspiring. A lot of you know me well enough to know that i am very picky about people and for me to make such a statement is no small thing.

This cruise is a chance to meet Larry and Hanne, learn about the film and how to get involved, have a nice dinner and some drinks, listen to some live acoustic music, meet our new film commissioner Joe Bookchin, get a chance to talk with my friend Joseph Citro (Author), Talk with me about whatever you want, support local art, and help make a Colchester VT boy’s dream come true. Hope to see you there.

if you haven't yet please buy tickets here.
www.stoneworksentertainment.com

Wednesday the 24th is the last day tickets are on sale. you have to buy them before you show up to the boat. We tell them how many are coming so they can make the food.

Don’t miss the boat. Friday Oct 26th 5:30 PM

Thanks,
Jayson Argento
cruise@stoneworksentertainment.com"

So, final day to pick up tickets.

Sorry again I didn't post this info sooner.

Be there, if you can.
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How Green R U?

Finally, HomeyM in Jamaica, VT just sent me the news that "Vermont has lowest carbon emissions in [the] nation"

(via this Howard Weiss-Tisman article in The Brattleboro Reformer),

which prompted me to follow the link to

the Eredux website's profile of Vermont; as Howard reports, "Vermont is the greenest state in the country. They have a lot to be proud of," said Ed Arnold, an information technology specialist with Eredux. "The best way to combat global warming is to think globally and act locally and we wanted this site to help folks see how their states and cities compare."

Look up your own state (or, via this link, your own town's profile) on Eredux's site, and see where you sit, Green-wise.

So, there ya go.

Have a great Wednesday, and see you here later today and tomorrow and ever after...

* CCS at SPX *

Well, it's Friday -- SPX begins today, and a major chunk of The Center for Cartoon Studies community is there! If you're in the Bethesda, MD area, make sure to pop in to the convention and pay the CCS folks a visit.

The amount of work that's been pouring into individual comics -- and anthologies, like Dead Man's Hand, which I'm part of -- has been enormous. Diehards like Robyn Chapman, Sean Ford (debuting Only Skin #2), Joe Lambert, Alex Kim, JP Coovert (all debuting new work which I haven't seen as yet), and many more have been burning the midnight oil in the CCS Colodny basement studio and the senior Verizon studio, some for weeks... it's amazing.

One more preview page from my story "Tenderfoot" debuting at SPX this weekend in the CCS anthologyDead Man's Hand; page/story copyright 2007 SR Bissette

Lacking the relatively available lead time we all had back in the spring for MoCCA, there simply wasn't time to rally interviews, graphics, etc. for everyone's comics; the few interviews we did initiate are still dangling unfinished, so the best I can do this time around is steer you to

the official SPX website.

CCS will be at table W22, near the door and registration table, and I Know Joe Kimpel has a table on the floor, too, as does JP and Joe's imprint.

For those who can't be there, I'll be posting followup ASAP, as information, art, links etc. are made available.

Dead Man's Hand has it's own website, here,

and I'll be posting sales links and more info after this weekend, as the DMH editors pull that together (of course, the past weeks have been entirely intent upon getting everything done and ready for SPX).

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For a peek at last Friday's day-trip with my amigos G. Michael Dobbs and Joseph A. Citro -- Mike and Joe -- click here for Mike's overview with photos, scroll down to his "Monday, October 08, 2007" post.

Also note Mike's pix of the Main Street Museum, which I'll be posting more about this weekend as my son Daniel and the band he's a part of -- Mooneye -- will be playing live there this coming Tuesday. More info soon!
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I'm home sick as a dog, so I'll also be posting here off and on the next three days to make up for the slack of this week's posts.

Have a great Friday, one and all, and stay warm and well...

Tween Dream, ChiChi and Joe & Steve's Big Adventure

For those of you seeking more personalized Bissette posts, here's your fix for the week.
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Tween Dream, dreamt this AM, twixt 6 AM and finally getting out of bed at 8 AM (that's sleeping in way late for me):

Marge and I are watching a CGI-heavy fantasy film from a theater seating area that is our bed. The movie is tedious, and I have a hard time staying awake, especially with Tuco (our tabby cat) purring next to me. I barely make it to the end, in which an oddly-pitched camera angle of a 19th-Century flying contraption and a closeup of the film's nominal villain with a ridiculous wig akimbo fill the screen before the end titles. At this point, a red-haired Marlboro College professor wearing glasses plunks himself into the bed at my end, and announces he's speaking at the Center for Cartoon Studies, and asks if I can get him there. So Marge, Tuco and I head out, walking down Lower Dover Road [in Marlboro, where Marlene, Maia, Danny and I used to live] toward our house. Tuco uncharacteristically allows me to carry him, content to just look around.

En route down the tree-lined dirt road with this chatty professor, we pass a small roughhewn barn on the left I've always noticed was there, but didn't know was a bookstore. The proprietor, a middle-aged woman who seems to know all of us, places a book in my hand saying, "You told me if I found a copy of The Lost World, you'd do a dinosaur sketch in it for me!" At first glance, though, I can see this isn't Conan Doyle's book: it's something unusual, a hand-colored (very nicely done!) comic-form parody of The Lost World, drawn by an unknown and uncredited cartoonist very much in the E.C. Segar school, featuring Dr. Seuss-like faux-dinosaurs. I offer to trade a copy of the genuine Lost World for this book, and she seems interested, though I also offer to buy the book if that doesn't seem fair. Tuco gets restless on my shoulders with all this banter, and it's really time to go -- we still have to scrounge up lunch for ourselves and the unexpected visitor.

I wake up, Tuco beside me, purring.
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ChiChi's New Face

ChiChi (on the right), next to my sis Kathie

This just in:

A photo of my younger sister Kathie with her hubby Jim Szeredy, retired U.S. Army officer and active Shriner clown, in his "new ChiChi face" -- yep, my sister married a clown!

Mucho love to Kathie, Jim and ChiChi!

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Joe & Steve's Big Adventure

So, Joe Citro and I stole away from our respective homes for a two-day jaunt into the wilds and not-so-wilds of New Hampshire this past Sunday and Monday. We went with a tuned car, full tank, overnight packs and no fucking clue where we would head to or why, though we gravitated toward a few long-discussed destinations before the days were out.

All photos are by Joe Citro, shared here with his full permission and a co-conspiratorial wink.

"On zee rud wit Fronchie" (caption & pic by Joe)

After a fine day of dining and book hunting, we spent the wee hours of the evening fruitlessly searching for accomodations for the night that would cost less than $100 per room. We passed countless car washes, pet hospitals, plant nurseries and used car lots, but the classic 'motor inn' of yore seemed completely vanished, devoured by chain hotels (Days Inn, Comfort Inn, Holiday Inn were all entered and negotiations were attempted) demanding well over $100 (up to $169 plus taxes and such) for evening digs.

Fronchie drove and drove fearlessly, at one point even spilling into Maine, ontil heez Fronchmon radar brod us to da Roude 125 Modor Een, w'ere fella Fronchmon Paquette servt us weel! Mon dieu!

A mere $80 per man got us each a clean and comfortable room with comfy sleeping accomodations. Merci, Monsieur Paquette! Monsieur Bissette tanks you!

By 8:15 AM, Joe snapped these daylight pix and we were back on the road, valiant (never violent) hunter/gatherers in search of morning grub. Routing ourselves back into the depths of NH via Route 11, we passed many a grand and glorious diner and settled on a '50s-style eatery called "Pink Cadillac", where the grub was delicious. Joe had grits, too; we both savored the country sausage. Our arteries suitably packed, we returned to the tarmac path of life.

We ended up spending a good chunk of Monday in Gilmanton NH, a picturesque classic New England town with sturdy white houses, churches, town halls and fences that reminded me a bit of Craftsbury Common, VT...

The reason for Joe gravitating us to Gilmanton: it was the first home of the notorious Herman Mudgett, aka H.H. Holmes, the true-life 'devil' of The Devil in the White City, harbinger of the ultimate 19th Century horror hotel...

...whilst I was there seeking info on Gilmanton's other most-despised, most famous citizen, Grace Metalious (September 8, 1924 – February 25, 1964), born in Manchester NH, author of the scandalous and immensely popular 1956 novel Peyton Place, which was based on Grace's then-home-town of Gilmanton, nearby Laconia, and also nearby Alton, where the news of an abused daughter killing her abusive father fueled the novel -- and still-lingering local resentments of Grace.

We visited her grave at Gilmanton's Smith Meeting House Cemetery, where Joe snapped this photo. I was hoping to find out why the 1957 feature film was filmed in Camden, Maine instead of Gilmanton, and that questions was indeed answered!

Next stop: Tilton, NH, where we snagged a tasty lunch. We tried to eat here, at the Tilton Diner, but the line spilled out the door, so we dashed to a local sub-and-pizza eatery, where the food was delish. As we dined, the Italian proprietor was unhappily talking with a meat supplier on the phone: "Look, the ham was shit... know what I mean? The shit-ham was just no good..."

Tilton was a busy burg named after a wealthy 19th Century patriarch who, while he lived, erected all sorts of granite and marble monuments to his own greatness all over town...

...the greatest of all being the famed Tilton Arch, which loomed over the town on its highest point (yes, Joe indeed snapped this photo -- though this was taken a couple or so years ago; Joe wanted you to see this shot, as it indeed shows the Arch in full-tilt boogie beauty). This was to be Tilton's final monument, his vast tomb and gravestone.

Here's a shot of the Tilton Arch on Monday, as the clouds moved in. Awesome, in't it? The delightfully perverse irony of all this is despite the grandiose marble statuary and stonework all about town, despite having built this massive monument to his own greatness, Tilton was not allowed by the town to be buried here! His grave is in a neighboring township. Gotta love those stubborn Granite Staters, they sure know how to live free or die!

The fact that Tilton shared its name with a fellow I was in court with a couple of years ago only sweetened the stopover (he lost in court, BTW), though Joe hadn't made that associative link.

Then we were off to the biggest book store of 'em all, and ah, sweet book booty was found.

As Joe can attest, I really am a much better driver than President Bush. We hardly ever lost our way, I never willingly steered us down blind alleys or into unnecessary conflict, and when we did get a wee bit lost, why, I'd just back up and turn around until we found a better way to get to where we were going. It really is much simpler, wasting less gas, time, and killing nobody at all. I didn't even run over a chipmunk or woodchuck doing so. And I didn't once get us stuck in a rut, much less "proving" my masculinity by spinning our tires for over five years, saying "Stay the course! We must be resolute!"
[This July 5th caption is dedicated to addled Bush supporters everywhere]

Have a great Thursday, one and all...

Zombies!,
Digging Out,
& Citro Speaks!

Hey, folks, Bissette horror comics are back!

Well, sort of.

Here's my cover art for the upcoming Accent UK anthology Zombies, just in from editors Dave West and Colin Mathieson. Their designer Andy Bloor took my black-and-white original (after Dave and Colin chose their favorite of the three potential cover images I submitted) and dressed it up with this straightforward bullseye-to-the-cornea use of color, which works beautifully.

Kudos to you, Andy! I love it.

Colin writes to say, "the issue will be released in the UK in May at the Comic Expo event in Bristol 12th/13th May, (with final line up and cover price shortly to be fixed) but we are also looking at possible distribution through Diamond so the book can be widely available to our colonial cousins! More to come on all that later..."

Of the Accent UK contributors from their side of the Atlantic, it's worth noting again that this whole project emerged from a conversation with John Reppion, Leah Moore and Colin and Dave in Denmark, the seed for which was planted in front of the Accent UK booth at the Copenhagen convention Komiks.DK 2006 we all attended in March/April. If I may quote a May 31st email from Colin, he recalls, "It's actually John's fault that we changed the theme on hearing of his zombie fixation and Leah's banter with him about it ("Oh you and your zombies!"), which made us realize that Zombies had that immediacy and fun element which could be interpreted in lots of different ways for an anthology, and would also prove an interesting rematch for the Moore, Reppion and Hitchcock team, so a quick editorial meeting on our return to the UK and we were away!"

So, leading the pack will be a new collaboration from the Leah Moore, John Reppion and Dave Hitchcock team. Colin and Dave first sent out the invitation to contribute to their Accent UK circle (and yours truly) on October 1st, 2006, and the project soon swelled beyond the parameters of their previous anthology Monsters to become Accent UK's first book-format, squarebound anthology. Once Dave and Colin responded positively to my suggestion that I work with Dan and Maia on stories, and extend the invitation to CCS students, I was fully committed and did my best to give Accent UK something memorable from the US. Proud to be part of it!

The other UK contributors include Dave West and Colin Mathieson themselves, cover designer Andy Bloor (solo and working with writer Kieron Gillen); Kieren Brown & Tom Jileson, Jason Cobley & Paul Harrison-Davies, Bridgeen Gillespie, Taboo vets Shane Oakley and Gary Crutchley (solo stories, not collaborating this time around), Laura Howell, David Baillie, Andrew Cheverton (solo and a collaboration with Tim Keable), Garry Brown, Owen Johnson, James Gray, Darren Ellis & Roland Bird, Graeme Neil Reid, Paul Cartwright, Jon Ayre & One Neck, Phil Rigby & Manoel Magalhães, Benjamin Dickson, Tony Hitchman & Leonie O'Moore, Indio, Chris Dingsdale & Dan Denholt, Matt Boyce, Andy Winter & Natalie Sandells, Matt Timson, Chris Doherty and others I don't know about as yet.

Want to see more? Well, Dave will be updating

the Accent UK site this weekend to include all this and more,

so keep that website tabbed on your computer for updates. I'll keep mum about my son Dan's and my own contributions to the anthology until we get closer to publication date. I will, however, offer snapshots of the horrific stories and art contributions from the Center for Cartoon Studies artists/writers: Morgan Pielli, Jeremiah Piersol, B.C. Sterrett, Sean Morgan, Matt Young, Chuck Forsman, Bob Oxman, Denis St. John and Jaci June -- including links to their respective sites -- in the coming weeks.

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That said, in reply to emails I've been receiving since the weekend announcement of this project: No, I'm not out of retirement. My retirement from the US comics industry stands.

I've drawn comics for myself all along, in my sketchbooks and such, and happily open up when it involves CCS, my son Dan, daughter Maia or friends; with Dan's Hot Chicks Take Huge Shits zine, the Trees & Hills anthology of last fall, and this upcoming Zombies collection (for a UK publisher), I'm indeed visible in print again, enjoying playing in the medium again, and glad some of what I'm up to will reach those of you who care. But this doesn't mean you'll be seeing me in the DC, Marvel, Dark Horse or Image plantations again -- far from it (& them). So quell any such anticipation, folks. If I do pursue inroads to future publication, it won't be in the US comics industry proper, such as it remains.

But if you do care, you'll read about whatever the heck it may be, and see samples of the art and/or creative effort, here first. To quote you-know-who, "'Nuff said!"

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Just shoveled out before starting this post -- as of 5 AM, we ended up with 20+ inches here in Windsor. I got out early to shovel because once the sun hits this snow, it's gonna get heavy to shovel; no doubt, there's lots of black ice under this snow cover on the roads, too. Luckily, we've got no wind here on Taylor Drive, quite unlike our old Marlboro home, which was always buffeted with winds in these kinds of storms. My stepson Mike told Marge last night that over in Claremont, NH (about a half hour from our Windsor digs) they were getting heavy wind last night, creating massive snowdrifts. We've none of that here, the snow lays where and as it fell.

Shoveled out our front steps and walk, over to the propane fill 'cap' further into the front yard, then stomped on down to the foot of the driveway to see if our morning paper was there. Viola! There it was, atop the snow, just tossed -- had I waited till the plows were out, we would have found it in the spring.

The storm is truly over: the sky is crystal clear, the stars (and a sprinkle of the Milky Way) visible horizon to horizon. I took a little walk around the neighborhood, until my glasses fogged so I could no longer see... by then my beard was crusted with frost and ice, too, so back home I went, scraped out in front of the garage doors, and came back in to hear the phone ring. Marge's school is delayed two hours, so she's able to sleep in again, lucky woman. I can hear her snoozing downstairs.

I've got the TV on: Burlington's WCAX (Channel 3) is reporting 40 inches in Jefferson, NH; here in VT, I caught reports for Bolton Valley, 40 inches; Stowe, 29 inches; 24+ in Burlington (now in top ten biggest snowstorms in that area in recorded history), etc. We're all digging out now, eh?

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One of my best friends is Joe Citro, writer/novelist/folklorist extraordinaire, and Joe has

long had a website, graced with his grinning mug and tons of info about the man, his work and his obsessions.

Well, those he cares to share with the public, that is.



But now, Joe's taken his maiden voyage

into the blogosphere, posting all-new research, stories and photos!

Joe has launched the blog with a complete story about the mysterious Bristol "treasure mines," complete with some truly evocative photos Joe snapped himself during a summer visit to this most treacherous of all VT locales -- it's tough to keep your footing amid the rocky debris from a century past, and Joe risked neck and limb (and ankles) to explore this terrain first-hand.

It's quite a story, one that still scars the landscape of the Bristol woods and hillsides...

"Shafts caved in, filled with stifling gas, or flooded with water. As much effort went into reclaiming holes as digging them. But no treasure came to light. After more than twelve years and thousands of dollars, Uncle Sim gave up.

But unlike the rock face of South Mountain, Uncle Sim’s faith was never shattered. About a decade later he returned alone. He had met a new conjurer who assured him that by moving just a few stones he could open a passage leading directly to the treasure...."

This is just the beginning of what will no doubt be an entertaining and at times astounding blog resource, particularly to those of you who are already Citro readers/fans/acolytes and/or folklore and stories "that might not be fiction," as Joe prefers to call 'em. And he always calls 'em as he sees 'em.

Joe and I have dabbled with a number of pet projects over the years. Some have yielded results you can still purchase on Joe's site --


Prominent among our dabblings remains the still-in-print & selling nicely, thank you, paperback book The Vermont Ghost Guide, which sports a full-color cover painting (of Emily on her famed Stowe, VT bridge) by yours truly and a plethora of black-and-white Bissette illustrations inside. This was among the most rewarding of all our ventures (just got a royalty check last week), and it's an ideal guide for driving around VT and seeking out the state's weirdest haunts: the book is designed around the VT map on the back cover, number-coding the locations, town by town, village by village, of the alphabetically-arranged spectral stories inside.

Joe and I also "cooked the book" a bit: there's one, and I do mean one, VT ghost story in the book that we completely made up! It does feature one of my coolest b&w illos, and we milk it for all it's worth. See if you can figure out which ghost is the phoney, folks -- but you'll have to buy a copy to play the game.


I also did the cover art for the University Press of New England paperback edition of Joe's 'stories that might not be fiction' tome Green Mountains, Dark Tales -- which is still available from Joe's site, and well worth picking up.

I also have one color full-page illustration (of the Pig-man) and a photo of my car -- with Marge and I waving from the top window -- poised at Greenfield, MA's 'zero gravity' zone in Joe's most recent book, Weird New England.

We also collaborated on a great full-color cartoon map of our native state marking (and illustrating) many more of our favorite Vermont's Haunts. Alas, that beautiful poster-size map is long out-of-print, and no longer available. Maybe someday we'll find a way to get it back into print... but for now, that's the scoop.

Have a great Thursday -- time to go shovel some more...

Given the terrible devastation and death toll of the past few weeks, I hope no one will think it inappropriate to acknowledge and grieve for one gentle soul's departure.

Charlie and Laurel Powell are two of the sweetest folks I've ever had the good luck to know in my lifetime. I first met Charlie at the annual Necon -- a semi-private horror writers convention held in Rhode Island every summer -- and we bonded almost immediately on a primal level. Charlie was five years my elder, and an unapologetic jock (he taught phys-ed for a living), but we both loved books of all kinds, horror in all forms, and we were both, after all, Vermonters. We also had many mutual friends, primary among them my dear amigo Joe Citro and one-time writing partner Stanley Wiater (Stanley and I co-authored Comic-Book Rebels). I'd tried for a couple of years to get Charlie and Laurel over to the Bissette hacienda when Joe was visiting, but it never panned out.

Charlie was born in St. Albans and grew up in Brattleboro, graduating from Brattleboro Union High School, before gravitating to the other side of the Connecticut River to live and teach. Laurel didn't seem to care much for horror, but she welcomed me into their circle of associates and friends with open arms. They're both among the kindest folks on God's Green Earth, and one of the treats of living in southern VT since first meeting Charlie and Laurel was the frequency with which we'd run into one another at the local flea markets and at First Run Video (where I worked the floor and was for years a co-manager and buyer). Charlie's sturdy frame and powerful build stood out in a crowd, but usually it was his red hair and beard I'd catch a glimpse of first, immediately followed by flashes of those eagle eyes and his broad, toothy grin.

Over the years, usually in the orbit of his book collecting/acquisition/selling interests, Charlie helped me countless times -- sometimes with advice, sometimes with a recommendation (or warning), often by tracking down some rarity I was seeking for one project or another. This also kept us in infrequent but always warm contact, and it was always a treat to see Charlie and/or Laurel under any circumstances. Charlie's devotion to Laurel was always evident, too, in good times and in stretches of rough health; whatever the circumstances, though, they forever carried themselves warmth, humor, and grace. Good people, good company, always and forever. Last year Charlie commented on the gray he and I were showing in our beards; true enough.

I've been avoiding the flea markets this summer (in hopes of stemming the flow of acquisitions into my already over-flowing library), but fortunately I did catch one of the first Wilmington flea markets this spring. Charlie and Laurel were there, per usual, but Charlie was walking with two canes. They had sad news... we talked for a bit, exchanged embraces, and I promised to send a box or three of videos their way, if only to save 'em a trip to First Run. Since I'm no longer at the video store, and my taste in films was forever harsher than theirs, it took some time this summer to gather a good enough variety of non-horrific videos for a fair-sized box, but Marj mailed out a big care package to Charlie and Laurel about two weeks back (Marj works in NH; Charlie and I always found it astounding how a letter from VT to NH or vice-versa could take three weeks to get to its destination, so Marj mailing from NH to Charlie and Laurel in NH was the best route).

Alas, too little, too late.

This morning's Brattleboro Reformer features a photo of Charlie, smiling and in his prime, on its Obit page. Charlie passed in his and Laurel's home on Tuesday night with Laurel and his family at his side.

On my way home from errands this morn, a flash of red in the still-green foliage -- a cardinal flying by -- brought back Charlie for a second: his smile, his voice, his presence. Fleeting, and gone, but never forgotten. My heart goes out to Laurel and all who knew and loved Charlie; our world is a lesser place today and hereafter.