This is the beautiful cover of an amazing book of memoirs by Laura Raboff. Laura’s my cousin on my father’s side of the family. She’s an accomplished artist, art teacher, writer, and a reliable source of creative and intellectual inspiration. I remember Laura mentioning her book project a while back and was happy to be among a small number of people to receive it. It is such a gem.

Laura’s a bit older than I and though we rarely met when I was a young boy living in L.A., the emotional and creative connection we’ve made as adults has at least partially made up for lost time. Laura and her husband Barry came to visit us a few years ago and the reunion was a real blast.

I’ve always had a thing for strong, stubborn, creatively gifted women like cousin Laura and my wife and partner Charlotte, whom I’ve been living happily and working collaboratively with for almost 27 years. 

For what it’s worth, both my mother and father were creative folks. But where my father likely suppressed my mother’s artistic talents and needs (she was a really good illustrator), I’ve always encouraged and been supportive of Charlotte’s ideas and creative pursuits. And vice versa, of course.