Forget Head Scratchers.
My REAL first book was “University Park Football” and had a release date of Fall, 1968.
The book tells about a game involving the University Park Mustangs (we lived in the Dallas enclave of University Park and my to-die-for team was the SMU Mustangs) who were led by a quarterback named “Rex.”
Why Rex? Two reasons: 1) “Rex” was the runner up to “Talbot” in the “What Should We Name This 8th Kid?” Sweepstakes, and no doubt there was some six year old passive aggression going on; and 2) Ohio State’s 1968 quarterback was Rex Kern. That ’68 Buckeye team is still among college football’s all-time greats.
On the page below, note that Quarterback Rex “past to Davis” — no doubt the team’s shifty wide receiver who had yet to discover that he needed to be playing tennis instead — in an exciting game against “South Dallas.”
Please note that I was both author AND illustrator.
