Paper and Ink Workshop

(Fogra 39) JOB: 08-30921 Title:Paper&Ink Workshop

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Paper and Ink Workshop page 190 Paper and Ink Workshop page 191

Acknowledgments

For anyone that has ever taken the time to read all the

way to the back page of one of my books (stand up,

Mom and Dad) you know that you have to nearly die

to be listed at the top of the acknowledgments. Hey, it is

a crowded field, and something has to single the chosen

ones out. Honestly, I am starting to think that if I stop

writing books, people in my life will stop needing to be

in this section. A good chunk of this tome was written

via my expert two-finger typing system in a hospital

intensive care unit waiting room. For my liking, far too

much of it was. Amazingly, following heart surgery that

did not go well, my stepfather scared all of us for a few

weeks and then started the steady climb to recovery,

and now he is as well as he was before the surgery,

which is a miracle in and of itself.

Soon after the end of that hospital stay, hoping to jettison

“intensive care” from my vocabulary for as long as I could,

I received a jarring phone call that one of my very best

friends was being monitored in emergency care in Pittsburgh,

having just suffered a stroke. Rich Westbrook is not just

my college and postcollege roommate; partner in hijinks

and shenanigans; the person who gave me my first real

design job and helped me on the road to growing up;

and one of the sweetest people you will ever meet—he

is the embodiment of all that is right in the world to me.

When I think of what a truly “good” person is, I think

of Rich. I couldn’t love that guy any more than I do, and

I couldn’t fathom anything bad ever happening to him.

It seemed like a supreme injustice that he should ever

know any pain or face his own mortality. I have never

felt a weight lifted quite like the one that passed when

I finally spoke to him in the hospital, falling back into our

old banter and inside jokes. Most of the effects have faded

away, though his vision might still be a little wacky in one

eye. Perhaps it will help his designs. As I am typing this,

he is off to a father/daughter dance, and I am tearing

up like a big sissy. Thank God he is around to tease me

about it when he reads this.

Nearly every word I have ever written on design that

was worth reading would not have been possible without

the vision and dedication of the wonderful folks at Rockport.

They deserve far more than a kind word here, so be

forewarned that you all have a ridiculously sloppy kiss

awaiting you. Winnie Prentiss and her leadership; Emily

Potts and her ability to make me laugh, blush, contemplate

my morals and values, smile nonstop, and somehow

work harder each day; Regina Grenier for her kindness

and joy in swapping dog tales and high fives and for

occasionally standing up for me, even if I didn’t know

that I needed her to; David Martinell, who always makes

me smile with his unflappable nature; Betsy Gammons

and her wisecracks and whip cracks; Cora Hawks

for doing so much behind the scenes, and so many

others—I adore you all.

Thanks to my enormous and ever-growing family,

especially my wife, Suzanne, and amazing daughter, Lily!

Love those girls to bits. To both sets of my parents, all

of my brothers and sisters (nine of us blended altogether,

the last time that I counted), James Nicholls, who is the

one person I talk to every day, Clive Solomon, Michael

Loveless, Daniel Early, Alex Hornsby, Lucy Hurst, Eva

O’Reilly, Mark Harwood, and all at Fire Records. My old

friends Bill Vierbuchen, Dave Bradbury, Chad Lafley,

and many more I am forgetting. Svetlana Legetic, Cale

Charney, and everyone at BYT. And last, but certainly

not least, all of the girls (almost women!) that I coach

on my soccer team that teach me way more than I could

ever give back to them every season.

You know it is impossible to make a book like this without

a cadre of talented designers and artists to draw on—so

a big thank-you and too-tight hugs to everyone included

in this collection. You are an inspiration.

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