Dear Mr. Watterson Page #2

people in the city.

I mean, really, just all demographics,

it seems to speak to people.

Everyone is united

by their love for this strip,

but everyone has a specific thing

that they love about it

or specific things

that they love about it,

and it's not always the same thing.

I grew up in a

Mexican neighborhood.

I went to a white school,

and I was like 300 pounds.

So I didn't really fit in,

but neither did Calvin.

And it wasn't really a problem.

He was just, I'm weird,

and this is the way I am,

and this is who I'm going to be.

And I think that's one of the things

that really kind of attracted me

to the character.

What really resonated to me was

the whole imagination aspect of it,

and how he just created it

in his head.

And he didn't even see his teacher

or his principal,

he just saw aliens,

and he was Spaceman Spiff.

- It's a very deep,

very philosophical experience

reading a Calvin and Hobbes book.

Even though on the surface

they're just cartoons.

- He's really created characters

that I think have a lot of depth

and are interesting to read about.

Calvin and Hobbes is

such a subversive comic.

But it has a purity to it

that most comics don't,

because it is so joyful and very much

in the imagination of this kid.

And yet he is hyper-aware

of world events and pop culture

and ironies and social concepts.

And I just found that

really, really exciting.

My mom died about 11 years ago

of a heart attack.

And my husband is a huge fan

of Calvin and Hobbes, so he had

a lot of the paperback collections

laying around the house.

And I would just sit at night

and look through those.

And that's how I came to know

Calvin and Hobbes

is through those first three

or four months after she passed.

It's just finding a place

to laugh again.

So I moved out here

to this brand new state,

this brand new house,

brand new neighborhood,

and I knew nobody.

So I was looking for something to

gravitate towards or associate with,

and Calvin and Hobbes became

something I could bond with

on a daily basis when

the newspaper would come.

I didn't understand, sometimes,

the significance of his statements.

But that really pushed me

into research,

and going to the dictionary

or looking for meaning.

It's one of those things that

you just, when you find it,

you want to share it.

And as soon as he could

start reading,

I wanted to give him the books.

And just like I thought it would,

I mean, there's times now

where he'll be reading it

in his bedroom,

and I'll just hear him laughing.

And just that simple act

of hearing him laugh,

as I know what he's reading,

it's like, there you go.

That's what I was hoping for.

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