Just as my kids flew the nest, my friend Ted Rall asked if I would like to do a comic strip for United Artists where he then worked. Stupidly, I said yes and proceeded to spend the next three years locked in my studio drawing 5-6 edit cartoons a week plus "Family Tree" which is in reruns at GoComics. The Tree family father ran a nursery, the mom worked, eldest daughter "Twig" was an eco-minded high schooler and the younger son was, well, a younger brother unimpressed by his sister's eco-piety. The characters allowed me to draw out all my dark memories of parenting, back-to-school nights, college pressures, carpooling, and listening to teenagers instruct me on all the things / could be doing to make the world a better place.
