Lynda Barry c/o The Independent Santa Barbara, CA 93101 Dear Lynda: i was passing by a pile of old newspapers this morning when i saw your name at the top of an article about Pork. Wow...not only was i laughing out loud, but my mouth was watering as well. In your details about your mom and dad fighting, and having to leave your Uncle's house, i was reminded of how i used to follow Ernie Pook's Comeek (along with Life in Hell and some other obscure square comics) every week in the back of the Bay Area Express. This was back when i was in high school. i really really was amazed that you and Matt Groening could reveal so much about yourselves in your strips. Well, i mean, i wasn't sure how much of it could be real, and how much was fictionalized. Matt's 3rd grade diaries read like he had actually found a bunch of his old diaries in an old shoebox and simply added the cartoons to illustrate his elementary school angst. And your honesty about divorce, siblings, other relatives, and just childhood...well, it was just comforting. Not because i went through any of that, but maybe because it was nice to know that somebody would trust people enough to put it out there. i have The Good Times are Killing Me up on my bookshelf, but haven't looked at it for awhile. i probably will soon. i love how you always have a new nickname for yourself, oftentimes referring to some cool blues or old soul singer that i've maybe barely heard of. This letter is rambling and badly organized. But i wanted it to sound like me, not like i sat here and thought out every paragraph. Hopefully it will make it's way to you. i'll probably be sending it care of the free weekly here in Santa Barbara, CA, the Independent. They only carry you and a few local artists. Odd...i felt like you "fit in" better in the Express, but there you are in the Independent every week. Then again, i heard a local librarian refer to the paper as the Codependent. Heh. Um...well, it's late, and my girlfriend probably wants me to turn off my computer. Thanks for sharing some cool stories. --Darryl Lee P.S. Say...so are you part Filipino? That's cool. i thought your descriptions of your grandma, uncles, aunts, cousins were quite cool. i dunno, being Asian (Chinese, born and raised in California) i'm always think it's cool reading about somebody else's culture. But how in the heck did your grandma smoke a cigarette with the lit end in her mouth? The mind boggles. P.P.S. Didn't i see you on either Letterman or Carson? i can't remember which, but i do remember that you were quite funny. Were you promoting your book at the time? Well...hope to hear from you soon... Bye :}
i think i also handwrote something about how i tried to find an e-mail address for her, but couldn't, and i gave her my e-mail address.