Immediately above is a conceptual piece by Bob Fugett
which is closely related to the Botanical Rain book; the text
reads:
Those who believe art is not a science, do not know art.
Those who believe science is not an art, do not know science.
— Bob Fugett
x = the arts
y = activism
x = y = demand arts programs remain in your schools!
Gam and the Cousins
Art Elwood, owner of the Dixie Drive-in, London, Ohio
(where I worked summers and breaks during college), once told me, "Bob, a
wife can make or break you. Choose carefully."
Early Sugar Loaf was as much a story of couples as
anything else, and teamwork was the order of the day; businesses where two
were working together always survived much longer than solo performances.
Katherine "Gam" Endico held up her end of the bargain,
not only for her husband Felix but for Endico watercolors.
In the early years of the Endico watercolor studio,
Gam often brought her friends on day trips from Westchester to
Sugar Loaf, and they all loved to shop in all the businesses.
Their kind support kept Mary and
Sugar Loaf going while both were getting on their feet.
In fact, Gam was so closely partnered with Felix, an apocryphal tale in the Endico family states
that Mary Endico was born as a trade for a very large diamond.
Felix had three daughters, but they were not going to
carry the Endico name forward (in the traditional way), so he bargained
with his wife Katherine to have just one more child in the hopes of a
male.
Therefore, Mary was supposed to be a boy.
She still wears the diamond passed down to her.
Whether or not the trade was true, I knew how important it
would be for Felix to have his name carried forward, so after our
marriage I suggested it would be best for Mary to continue using her
maiden name professionally.
Besides, we already had four years of promotional
materials under our belt using her Endico name, plus the graphic and linguistic
possibilities of Endico far outweighed the potential of Fugett.
These days, Mary uses Endico when things are
going great; but, whenever she is causing trouble, she always defaults
to her fallback legal name of Fugett.
Like any great idea, however, there are always
unintended consequences: in this case I have grown to realize that what
seemed like an easy boost for the Endico name has now grown into a
responsibility.
I feel obligated to some very good people that I not screw up the name.
Most prominently are the two cousins, Cousin Billy and
Cousin Felix, so I must mention them here.
Cousin Billy was working with the brothers (Felix,
William, and Michael) in the potato factory when he realized they were
never going to make him a full partner.
With typical Endico brains and bravado Billy said
something like, "Screw that!" and set off on his own.
And now, Ace Endico is a company that has grown to
eclipse the old potato factory, and when Mary and I see one of the almost ubiquitous
Ace Endico trucks we always feel like running up to it and asking,
"How's Billy doing?"
Of course, we never do it because we know if we ever
did, the driver would not have a clue who we were or
what we were talking about.
Billy also bought the first major Endico watercolor that
Mary sold.
It was a cityscape he bought off a stud between
insulation in our first gallery in Scott's Meadow, before the walls had
sheetrock.
The price of the painting was $65.00 which at the time
was a king's ransom and let us know things are possible.
Some day I hope Billy gets to slip his business card into my
breast pocket for one final farewell.
As for the other cousin, Cousin Felix, he is the one I first spoke with at
Grandma Josie's 80th birthday party, held in one of those famous,
expensive, tiny, intimate, excellent,
out-of-the-way, Italian family restaurants in the Bronx.
Felix was a musician, and I was a musician, so they sat us
together, and we spent the night talking amongst ourselves.
I soon realized Felix was a real deal musician, so
I was not surprised when he proved it over a lifetime of spectacular
performances leading his band (Felix and the Cats) which has preserved the legacy of the big band
swing era to this day.
When I see Google returns for either of the cousins topping
those of Mary, it is the only time I ever smile and let the Internet be as it
should.
Like I said, I feel greatly indebted, and
Gam and the
cousins are just a few.