I want to add that, as an artist/illustrator/cartoonist/whatever else this week, the impact is not just general, but can also be very personal. I hope Loren will not mind my sharing a note of appreciation I sent to him recently, attempting to explain how I felt his research has shaped my own vision:

“Your work has both informed and entertained me…. Your book MYSTERIOUS AMERICA was the first place I read a serious discussion about the MOMO sightings since having heard of them as a kid growing up in Springfield, Mo. I have had a photocopy [from your book] of the two strange letters that were discovered during the flap pinned on my studio wall for many years (‘I ask, I want, I seek and I punish. The sweet, good delightful, beautiful are destroyed as I see only devastion [sic] and feel sorrow for myself & bitterness.’) The idea of a bigfoot creature penning some poetic musings to leave behind continues to spark my imagination, and perhaps, the seeds of Lil’ Bigfoot [my recent webcomic] were first born from that page of your book.”

While I know that Loren strives to discover the truth behind mystery creatures, I sometimes wonder if simply giving us a chance to ponder the unanswerable isn’t even more important to us.