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Al Jaffee: Raking through old memories of my life, which was not at all smooth sailing, was surprisingly unemotional for me. I learned to jettison emotion in favor of day to day survival and concentrated on drawing and making things. If I focused on problems I'd have gone mad--which I eventually did. By that I mean MAD, which opened up a whole new world of enjoying art and getting paid to do it. Very sad memories came up constantly while being interviewed but I dealt with it and moved on. All in all it was a rewarding experience and a pleasure to work with my biographer, Mary-Lou Weisman.
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I did not feel strange about illustrating my early life which stretched back over 80 years. What amazed me is when I started drawing a scene, details that I thought I'd long forgotten popped into my hand as if it was working on its own. I know that sounds weird, but the truth is you can't research your personal experiences. It is in your subconscious and comes to the surface when you scratch at it.Tell me about this art show that MoCCA's throwing. Why does it need donations?
The MoCCA show will feature several dozen illustrations from Al Jaffee's Mad Life. There will also be many additional pieces of art from my career.The fundraising is to cover MoCCA's expenses for framing, publicity, etc. We had hoped our publisher would take care of this but it's not a policy they follow. I will personally add my two cents to the pot.Nicholas, I hope this helps. I'm not much of a straight writer. I'm more comfortable with something silly like Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions. I greatly appreciate that you are doing this in Vice. And thanks for the kind words you said about my career.

