Long ago in 1968-70 I shared a flat with the genius that was Pete Smith (and still is). He was a man with a prodigious creativity, a mind that pierced infinity and so many skills that you did not know what was coming next. He was a scientist who played every imaginable instrument, made his own instruments, painted, drew, created many strange inventions, made light-shows, cooked, photographed and designed.
We were both on a Zoology course doing a degree that we were unhappy with. It was one great memory test. We both thought that education should be more than a memory test – it should be illuminating, expanding, mind-blowing, fun, discovery, investigation and wonder. Our course was dull, boring and reductionary. Consequently we did not attend much. We chose to educate ourselves by reading Sci-fi, playing music and generally talking about anything that sparked our interest.
When Liz and I were married in 1971 Pete presented us with a book of cartons. It started as a story book but soon, due to time restrictions, became a mixture of whatever came to mind. The drawings are rudimentary because they were rushed but that book is one of my prized possessions.
I thought I’d share them with you.
Thy all speak lots to me. This is a simple one. It is about compassion. Crying for the whole world in despair at what we were doing to it.