Back in the late 70's we took a trip to New York; I had never been there before, and I decided to do drawings of our trip rather than photos, 'cause I'm a bit camera shy! 

The upper left drawing is us standing around waiting to get in for a tour at the Marvel Comics office. Tom Orzechowski (he's one of the greatest letterers ever!) and Dean Motter were there with us. 2nd picture wis of Times Square, the 3rd pic is us at a great restaurant in NYC, in pic 4 we went to see the play A Day In Hollywood a Night in the Ukraine. Pic 5, we couldn't afford much so we stayed in the Iroquois, a scary cheap hotel; in it's day it was a great place but by the 70's it was totally creepy!. Pic 6 is us at the Metropolitan Museum, pic 7 the  World Trade Centre (!) Pic 8  window shopping at Bloomingdale's, and Pic 9 the scary subway!

Although these drawings weren't comic strips, they did have a certain narrative that I enjoyed doing, but didn't take them seriously at the time!

I think Alex's first day at school was more traumatic for me than it was for him. He had an amazing inventive spirit even back then, and I just hoped he would retain it while he learned to read and write. We are all born with imagination, but hanging on to it is another story. Some of us draw, some of us dance, some sing effortlessly as children. The effort of becoming literate is a huge task that takes many years to perfect - I'm still working on it! ;^)  

For many people the creative side gets pushed aside in order to focus on literacy - as Picasso once said said " It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but it took me a lifetime to paint like a child." And Einstein said, "logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere." 

And so it goes. I'm glad I can draw, that  is my first language - the other one is English, which is a lot of work! 

This quote by Marshall McLuhan ties in nicely with these images:

"Innumerable confusions and a feeling of despair invariably emerge in periods of great technological transition" 
The technology of TV had a profound effect on literacy; our brains were changing as a result. The dominance of print was being overshadowed by TV, but both technologies had an effect on how we think, and literacy remains essential in order to function in our world. I had fallen through the cracks of the educational system, so the fear at that time in my life was; what's in store for my children? McLuhan observed that every time a new technology emerges, the ground changes, and the more we are inundated with new technology the more we have to adapt. The next generation is growing up in a digital world that requires a new kind of literacy, but hopefully we learn how to communicate effectively with all the new technology we have today.