Richard lifting his mother's Suitcases (updated)

One of Richard's earliest jobs, done in a style he never returned to, was illustrating his mother's autobiography, The Suitcases. His mother, Anne Hall Whitt, spent some time in an orphanage in Charlotte, NC. The book is touching and worth reading. 

 The first time we went to HeroesCon, Richard and I visited the site (pictures now included below), and he was very moved by it. Here's some images from Bono's copy of the book, along with some material from Mrs. Whitt-Thompson's funeral that was laid in.

 

 

 

Richard at the orphanage site, June 6, 2010 (updated3/10/23):

 

 

 

The following letter and photo layout are from Richard's father -

 

Richard Thompson, Chameleon

  

Richard wasn't really a chameleon - he was pretty much a WYSIWYG, except for a couple of minor things.

If he said, "Bless your heart," as a true Southerner's son, he may have either meant it, or "Damn you to Hell."

He was modest, but also he knew his value. He knew he was good, but didn't crow about it.

He also liked orange food, which may or may not be an attribute of chameleons.

Anyway, this is a project that he was part of in 1999. Can you tell what section he did?

He was the face. The other creators were Jeanne Turner, Annie Lunsford, Richard Steadham, Bono Mitchell, Dana Verkouteren, Ken Krafchek, and Patricia Cullen-Clark.

I know some of the group - Krafcheck teaches art at MICA, Verkouteren is a courtroom artist and caricaturist, and Mitchell and Lunsford have passed away. 

Here's Diane Rickenbaugh for HOW Nov/Dec 1999 on the project:

I'll put a pdf of the article and larger versions of the poster on the Internet Archive later tonight.