#23, Winthrop.

The receptionist for awhile at the art store. Winthrop reminded me of R. Crumb mixed with John Waters, but without any of the latter's smiles or sarcastic bent; he was extremely quiet and deadpan, which made his in-store announcements very interesting, and completely inaudible. Pretty funny, actually, that he worked there that long. He was ill, with something long-term, and was always eating soup from a box. Tomato, Butternut Squash, Cream of Broccoli. His diet was very specific. He used to pull on my ponytail, and it drove me nuts. Allison and i would sometimes call up the radio station and request "Owner of a Lonely Heart" and dedicate it to him, which was not very nice now that i think about it. It was really all in good fun. He was a pretty well-established cartoonist, i found out later, and the last time i saw him he was giving someone an acoustic guitar lesson in a park in Berkeley.