The Merry Cemetery, Howard Finster, and Mexican Ex-Votos

A look at Romania’s Merry Cemetery, a sort of folk art tourist attraction that is somewhat reminiscent of Howard Finster’s Paradise Gardens (…but with dead people). Also, examples of Mexican ex-votos.

PTERODACTYLS & GOVERNOR CLEMENTS

I dream of tractors. And former Texas governors who want to buy expensive books from me.

GAUCHOS, COWGIRLS, AND VAN CLIBURN’S HEAD

A dull day at the Fort Worth Book Show where for us dealers, the highlight of the show was unquestionably the appearance of a local (male) “author” who dressed up as a gaucho, carried a look-alike doll, and wore more make-up than Mary Kay Ash’s cadaver. I break up the tedium by nipping over to the National Cowgirl Museum and, later, trek a few blocks to see the homage to FW homeboy Van Cliburn painted on the side of a statue of a Texas longhorn.