The Splended Freedom
- THE SPLENDID FREEDOM - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. The drawing appears in Galaxy, September, 1974.
How appropriate, "The Splendid Freedom," it applies perfectly to me! In 1973 the Arab oil boycott caused havoc in America, resulting in cut-backs throughout our industries. I had gone to work in the morning and found out that my department, Research and Development had been more than "cut-back," it had been "cut-out!" Eliminated! I had lost my job!
I was feeling mighty low as I drove back home. Times were bad, especially in Vermont where jobs in the electronics industry were scarce. Images of my wife and two young sons entered my mind as I continued driving home, they had no idea that their future was about to change. I remember getting mad as hell and shouting every curse word I knew before calming down. But life is filled with irony, I didn't know that Destiny was putting an end to my life in Electronics and opening the door of opportunity for me to do what I really wanted to do with my life . . .
I didn't know that I was actually driving home to the world of my dreams. When I came home I found two letters in the mail from professional science fiction magazine editors offering me assignments to illustrate stories for their magazines. And the miracle is this; after that traumatic day I never looked for another job, even in the publishing industry. Every week thereafter, for years and years, until I retired, I kept receiving phone calls and letters from paying fanzine editors or from professional publishers, or art collectors, offering me work. So I never went back to work in the electronics industry. I don't know why this "Splendid Freedom" came to me, but it did.
By the way, that's me in the space helmet.
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