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Denys Cazet talks about Minnie and Moo (Bio below) The first time I saw Minnie and Moo we were on our way to Grandma's in the family station wagon. Our trips take us past an old dairy farm. Cows graze untroubled and aloof. My young sons, Alex and Jack,, like to watch for them. As we pass, my wife Donna, will declare, like clockwork, "When in a herd, all cows will face in the same direction." I don't know why, but I always forget that this scientific dictum is on the way. I always look. Almost everyone in the car thinks this is very funny. On this particular morning, the herd was facing one way and two cows, standing side by side, were facing the other. "Aha!" I said. "So much for science!" "You watch," said Donna. "When we return, they all will be facing the same direction! Those other two cows haven't realized their mistake. They're getting ready to turn around this very moment." That afternoon
we passed the dairy farm on our way home. We all looked. The herd was now
facing in the opposite direction -except for the same two cows. They were
standing at the top of a hill, facing the others. I swear, they were smirking.
The friendship between Minnie and Moo in many ways is reflective of my own friends and our relationships. I often wonder about the serendipitous path that has brought us together. I realize that the more I try to explain friendship, to define it, the more elusive the explanation. So…I go to the experts. I ask Minnie and Moo. I ask Minnie: "Why do you think Moo is your friends?" "Think!" says Minnie. "Think? I don't have to think about why Moo is my friends. I know. When she is sick, I care for her. When she lapses into melancholy, I comfort her. Why would anyone want to bother the brain with such a question when your heart already knows the answer?" Of Moo I ask: "Why
do you think Minnie is your friend?"
"Melon?" I say. Moo nods. "It takes a long time to find a good one," she says. "And when you do?" Moo smiles. "Delicious!"
Denys
Cazet
Where were you
born? I landed on Earth a smidgen before the planet Krypton exploded. Superman
and I grew up together. I've lived where I landed all my life.
Did you like school?
School was like being in a play without a part.
Did you go to a
special college to study art? I went to many colleges and studied many
different subjects. Art was not one of them.
What was your family
like when you were a child? I grew up in an extended family. All my grandparents,
great-aunts, and great-uncles took care of me. French was their first language.
They never tired of talking, eating, arguing, laughing, or telling stories.
I never tired of being with them. With the exception of my sister, I am
an only child.
Did you always
want to be a writer and an illustrator? No. I wanted to be a fireman, an
ichthyologist, etc. . . . Even though I loved to read, I never gave much
thought to who was actually writing or illustrating my favorite books.
Our school didn't have a library, and we were never encouraged to read
anything but our textbooks. However, every day after school, I stopped
at our public library and sat on the floor and read. It was a warm and
cozy place with a kindly librarian. It was my sanctuary.
When was your first
book published? My first book was published in 1973. It was a drawing book
for children.
Have you ever worked
at other jobs besides writing and illustrating books? Yes . . . many. I've
been a cook, gardener, process server, ditch digger, farmer, cable splicer,
printer, teacher, and a school librarian.
How long did it
take for your first book to be published?
Where do you get
your ideas? I shop for them. Not at the supermarket, although there might
be one or two lying around there, but by listening to myself and others.
I try to pay attention to the human condition and how the daily dramas,
our daily encounters and experiences, our sorrows and joys, change our
lives. It is not easy to pay attention. But if you want to learn to write
or draw well, you will have to learn. You can start by
unplugging your
television set. Television is a distraction. It wont help you to pay attention.
It cannot give you what you need to write or draw well. It desensitizes
you to life. Children watch television about forty hours a week. That means
that if you live to be eighty years old, you will have spent more than
ten years of your life, night and day, in front of a television set. Think
about it.
Is writing fun?
Writing is hard work. It never leaves you alone. Ideas come and go. They
pester you, buzzing in your ear, anxiously looking for a place to land.
The only way to stop the buzzing is to write the story. It's like building
a house with different-size bricks. If you don't put the bricks together
carefully, your house will not be very strong. It might fall down. I spend
a lot of time rewriting my stories. I want the house to be strong. I'm
very happy when I've finished a new story. After all, I am the proud mother
and father of all the characters who live there. I'm happy for about a
day. Then . . . buzzzzzzzzzzzz . . .
How about drawing?
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz . . .
Where do you live?
I live in the foothills of Napa Valley, in Northern California.
Do you have any
children? Yes, and I have grandchildren, too. Books by Denys
Cazet from DK Ink:
Other books by
Denys Cazet:
Night
Lights: 24 Poems to Sleep On – Orchard Books, 1997
DK Ink, 95 Madison
Avenue, New York, NY 10016. (212) 213-4800 |
