Showing posts with label illustrators. Show all posts
Showing posts with label illustrators. Show all posts

Friday, March 6, 2015

Celebrate the Small Things: Old Letters and Postcards

 
Letters and postcards are such a thing of the past, that I find it refreshing to come across old correspondence tucked in a drawer or in the cover of an old book.
 

Does anyone remember the Griffin and Sabine books by Nick Bantock? He wrote a love/friendship story using only the couple's correspondence. It's beautiful to read if you've never read the series. You turn the pages and one by one each page has a pasted letter, an envelope with one inside, or a postcard stamped "Air Mail Par Avion." It's clever of the writer, but truly effective because the text is so engaging and on the adjacent page the art is gorgeous (Bantock is also the illustrator). 

My daughter-in-law from Singapore shared the series with me and I'm so glad she did. Check out the opening lines (Griffin is in London and Sabine is in the Simon Islands, South Pacific):

Postcard 1:


Griffin Moss, 
 It's good to get to touch
with you at last.
Could I have one of your 
fish postcards?
I think you were right--
the wine glass has more impact
than the cup.

Sabine Strohem

Post card 2:

Sabine,
Thank you for your exotic

postcard. Forgive me if
it's a memory lapse on my
part. But should I know
you?
I can't fathom out how you
were aware of my first
broken cup sketch for this
card. I don't remember
showing it to anyone.
Please enlighten me.

Yours,
Griffin Moss

 
Anyway, was looking for something to post, and thought of this old favorite. Here's the full title:
Griffin & Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence by Nick Bantock (1991, 1992, 1993 Chronicle Books)




Have a Nice Weekend Everyone!





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You could call me an eternal optimist, but I'm really just a dreamer. l believe in dream fulfillment, because 'sometimes' dreams come true. This is a blog about my journey as a writer and things that inspire and motivate me.