1952 Oberlin College graduate. The brilliant 'The Juggler of Our Lady' has interesting roots: in school, Blechman prepared a picture story entitled 'Titus' for term paper. It got a B-. A friend showed it around, leading then-head of Henry Holt to ask Blechman to create a similar one, preferably Christmas-themed, as the season was approaching. Struggling for a suitable idea, Blechman spoke with another friend, who suggested 'the juggler of our lady.' Blechman recounts: "Rereading the legend the next day, I realized that it was precisely what I wanted... I knew that this was an ideal story to adapt. I set to work immediately. Clearing the kitchen table of everything but the white paper, and Will Durant's 'Age of Faith' as reference, I started the book that evening, and finished it the same night. In the morning I took it to Holt, and it was accepted for publication." At the time, Blechman was in Georgia in army basic training. When he saw the proposed jacket design he was horrified and pleaded to be permitted to fly back to New York to stop the presses. That didn't happen, with the result that you see today. Note, though, that the fairly recently reissued version has a completely different jacket. That's no coincidence.

My mother had a copy of this wonderful book as a child. I have it now. It had a profound effect on my interest in cartooning. Thanks, R.O.!

You can catch up on his more recent work through his web site: http://www.roblechman.com/index.htm

I contacted Mr. Blechman and told him about The Juggler Of Our Lady's influence on my own love of cartooning. Gentleman that he is, he drew Cantalbert juggling the letters of my name and sent it to me. See the image below. How cool is that?