ANOTHER LOOK

A VEGETABLE, A BROTHER, SOME FRIENDS, A NEPHEW. . .

This edition of JUST NOW is a little story about a long-ago chapter of my history that unexpectedly sprang to life again a couple weeks ago. Maybe you’ll be touched by it, as I have been.

---

THE STORY OF WHY RANCHO RUTABAGA HAS LOOKED
ALL THE DIFFRERENT WAYS HE HAS LOOKED
IN THREE LITTLE CHAPTERS

THE FIRST CHAPTER

IN THE MID-1970’s, my younger brother, Larry, was one of the bartenders at Spellman’s Bar, a short-lived, funky Austin beer Joint of that era located on West 5^th Street, not far from Webb’s Pool Hall, another funky joint of that era. I remember that he brought in live music on some weekends, Dan del Santo among others, and that I spent a fair bit of my spare time in there because, of course, I wanted to support struggling businesses as well as help keep my brother employed, but also because Larry would pass me the occasional free bottle of Budweiser.

At the time I was writing little stories about a character named Rancho Rutabaga – a good-natured, free-spirited actual vegetable person – with a bunch of crazy friends with names like Jumpin’ Fred, September Smith, Jimmy the Moth, and Holy Mackerel. They all just showed up in my imagination one day, stayed for several years, and then moved on. Eventually, there were enough stories for a book, and Larry introduced me to a guy at Spellman’s who was an artist. His name was Lou Covey. We hit it off, and Lou ended up doing the illustrations for Rancho Rutabaga – Stories for the Little in the Big, published in 1977 by Place of Herons Press.

In spite of my best efforts, Spellman’s Bar shut down after a couple years. Larry got on with his life, which, among many adventures, both joyous and heartbreaking, included meeting a beautiful young woman, Kathleen. Soon afterward they got married. Before long they had a son, my nephew – Leif.

RANCHO ACCORDING TO LOU COVEY
Cover of the 1977 book, Rancho Rutabaga – Stories for the Little in the Big, with an illustration of Rancho from the story – How Rancho Rutabaga Helped Holy Mackerel Celebrate Christmas. Lou did illustrations for almost all the other stories in the book.

THE SECOND CHAPTER

FIFTEEN YEARS LATER, Tom Giebink, a sculptor-video-visual artist living in Austin at the time, conspired with me to take another look at Rancho, and in 1992, along with Robert Bonato, we published a book and video of just one of the stories – How Rancho Rutabaga Helped Holy Mackerel Celebrate Christmas. We produced them, timed perfectly for the Christmas season, counting on a ton of sales to hundreds of moms and dads all over Austin for their delighted girls and boys on Christmas morning. Shockingly, very few moms and dads ever had any idea the book or video even existed. Thus, somehow sensing how fantastic Tom’s illustrations of Rancho were and that they were missing them, kiddies all over Austin were miserably disappointed that Christmas morning, and as a further consequence, I still have a pretty big stack of those books that I’ve hauled around for over thirty years.

RANCHO ACCORDING TO TOM GIEBINK
Just one of many illustrations of Rancho from the 1992 book, How Rancho Rutabaga Helped Holy Mackerel Celebrate Christmas

THE THIRD CHAPTER

MEANWHILE, as you may have surmised, the years were ticking by, and Larry’s son, Leif, was growing up the whole time. He became a fantastic artist himself. Like his dad, he also met and got married to a beautiful young woman – also an artist. Her name is Yorie. They a had child, a daughter named Kaela. Leif is now an animator at Walt Disney Animation Studios and a director of his own films.  Not long after the first of this year, Leif texted me that he and his family were visiting his mother over the holidays when she gave him a box of his old things to look through. In it was a copy of that original, 1977 Rancho book. On a whim, he decided to make his own version of Rancho from the Holy Mackerel Christmas story, and he wanted to send me a print of it. When I saw the drawing, I couldn’t believe it – there was Rancho!

So, almost 50 years after Larry introduced me to the man who would illustrate my original Rancho Rutabaga book, his son honored me – more than he can imagine – and, without realizing it, his father as well – by creating this portrait of the good-natured, mischievous, open-to-magic, and willing-to-be-silly character that I always had in mind.

It is so amazing that you did this, Leif! I am so touched and grateful. Thank you!

RANCHO ACCORDING TO LEIF JEFFERS
Digital painting of Rancho inspired by the cover of the book Rancho Rutabaga – Stories for the Little in the Big