In a former lifetime, I was a bartender and worked with an old friend named Joe McKivergin - or 'Big Joe' as he was known around town. Joe and I ran several bars together and became close friends. As time and geography went by we've drifted apart.
The two of us collaberated on a cookbook together in 1985, but alas it was never finished. The premise for the book was a cookbook for bachelors, complete with barbeques, girl watching, beer drinking and celebrating summer. Joe was working on the recipes (he's an excellent chef). I was working on the illustrations and our friend Mark Direnzo was the editor. We had a lot of fun, drank a LOT of beer and had a lot of laughs.
I was recently informed that Joe is in poor health. A mutual friend contacted me on Face Book, having heard about the pictures I'd drawn for the book from Joe's sister. Most of them are hanging in my mother's kitchen or have disappeared over time. I found this illustration in my closet and decided to post it in honor of Big Joe. This picture was the title page for the chapter about cooking fish.
I drew this in 1985 long before I'd ever used a computer. It's done with prisma color pencils. Pardon the scan quality, the artwork is in a permanent mat, and couldn't be flush against the glass on the scanner.
Take care, Joe. I hope you remember this as fondly as I do.
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