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Waiting game
I approved the final proof on Nov. 6, officially sending the book off to the presses. I’m working with Print Ninja, a company out of Evanston, Illinois and they have been wonderful. To keep costs low, the actual printing is done in China. (I have very mixed feelings about this part, but working on a…
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Final changes – Final proofreading
We have 60 pages that we have reviewed, revised, rewritten, redrawn, removed, and now – I think – we are ready to release them into the hands of the printer! Erica has pushed through the pain and inconvenience of a nasty sprained ankle, a fall she took just as I was leaving for an overdue…
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“If only he could see her now”
Mumford Holland was a close family friend of the Renfrows. A long time neighbor, they cared for him in his final years, and he left his property to members of the family. His story was told in the Hazelwood Cemetery Walk in September 2023. “When I think about Mr. Holland – who lived and was…
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Celebrating 75%
With this illustration, Erica has completed 17 of 22 double-page spreads, technically 77.27% of the book. We know there are revisions to the early illustrations that will need to be made, so there is more than 22.73% of the work remaining. But still, hitting this point feels pretty significant. The light at the end of…
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Bloomers & Squirrel decisions
In my last post I mentioned our new process for bringing Alice and, therefore, Edith into the illustration process. We are barely a week in and I’m so excited about how things are coming together. The picture above is one of the first ones we talked about – bloomers for practice pants, and if you…
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Half way there!
Over my lunch hour today we hit a significant milestone. I approved the picture that brought us to the 50% completion point on illustrations! Erica and I both agreed that this is something worth celebrating! I thought it would be fun to share a glimpse of the process. It starts with the text and the…
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Birthday time!
Edith will turn 109 on July 14th!!! I don’t know about you, but I’ve never sent a card for a 109th birthday before so I don’t want to miss this chance. If you’re like me and want to drop her a card, we are organizing a card shower and will deliver the cards in bulk…
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One by one…
Beautiful things take time and it’s always worth the wait. Illustrations are progressing at a rate of 1-2 per week and are about 20% done at this point. Erica is using historic photos for reference, like the Renfrow home in the background of this illustration. We also have decided to use flowers and other natural…
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Her voice! Sharing her mother’s wisdom
There is a small group of students doing Renfrow related research with Professor Tamara Beauboeuf at Grinnell College this summer. Part of the project has involved digging into an amazing piece of research done by Stuart Yeager, class of 1982, that resulted in a thesis, “The Black Experience at Grinnell College through collected oral history…
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GC Alumni love
On Saturday I had the great privilege of sharing my passion for Edith and her story with fellow alumni of Grinnell College in person for the first time. They had come from all over the country and world back to this special place that sits at the center of everywhere (as Grinnellians like to say).…
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The Renfrow Story 