Today, much of my creative energy is focused on creating unique pop-up books filled with my illustrations, photographs, historical facts and information. There isn't a design project of mine, from my china patterns for Lenox, to my wallpaper and fabric collections at Brunschwig and Fils and Schumacher that hasn't started with me looking at books. I started building my collection of illustrated books, (numbering in the hundreds today) and as Thomas Jefferson said, 'I cannot live without books'. One of the first things I learned working with America's top decorators, (Sister Parish and Albert Hadley in particular) and their clients, was the importance of a library full of illustrated books for reference and inspiration. I was soon commissioned to design and paint murals in some of the finest residences in the world. Time to re-evaluate my 'acting career'.įortunately, friends of mine working in the rarified world of high-end interior design, encouraged me to take on decorative painting projects. I was chosen by Woody Allen for a speaking part in his movie, Stardust Memories, but I was a victim of the proverbial 'lost on the cutting room floor'. I had countless walk-on parts on the soap opera All My Children and what I thought would be my 'big break' in the movies. There is discussion among academics as to whether this was a fully secular story, or if it is a Christian allegory.Soon after graduating with a BFA in Advertising Art from the University of Kansas, I moved to New York City to pursue a career in the creative arts. The treatment of the poor and the ability of a selfish man to redeem himself by transforming into a more sympathetic character are the key themes of the story. Dickens had written three Christmas stories prior to the novella, and was inspired following a visit to the Field Lane Ragged School, one of several establishments for London's street children. He was influenced by the experiences of his own youth and by the Christmas stories of other authors including Washington Irving and Douglas Jerrold. After their visits, Scrooge is transformed into a kinder, gentler man.ĭickens wrote A Christmas Carol during a period when the British were exploring and re-evaluating past Christmas traditions, including carols and newer customs such as Christmas trees. A Christmas Carol recounts the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, an elderly miser who is visited by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley and the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, commonly known as A Christmas Carol, is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech.

A christmas carol book cover