Marikka Tamura, an art director at Penguin, and author, posted this image on Instagram on Tuesday, September 15, with the following note: “My beloved Tomie dePaola would have been 86 today. His belly laugh still rings in my ears. He surprised me with this portrait on my birthday a few years ago. Miss him.”
I think it was a significant birthday. 29th, maybe.
I called the portrait “Marikka Lisa” after, well, Mona…
She wore her ADELITA scarf during the Zoom event. I heard that others wore scarves, too. A friend in Wisconsin cut zinnias in her garden and put them in a vase because Tomie loved zinnias.
I wore a clean dress shirt.
Here’s a link to an article in PUBLISHERS WEEKLY about the memorial celebration…
Pray for Peace, Justice, and Equality
