WEBVTT - Maira Kalman: Artist, Author, Designer 0:00:04.840 --> 0:00:08.959 It's always so hard to maintain a sense of hope 0:00:08.960 --> 0:00:12.560 and and not feel so much despairsed. You know, especially 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:15.600 in these times. We know that there are terrible things 0:00:15.640 --> 0:00:17.640 going on, and we know that there are splendid things 0:00:17.680 --> 0:00:20.200 going on in the world, and you have to look 0:00:20.239 --> 0:00:22.159 for the good. Sometimes it seems like more of a 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:25.400 struggle and more of a challenge, but really you have 0:00:25.520 --> 0:00:27.720 to face the day and say, there there are good 0:00:27.760 --> 0:00:32.520 things going on, and we're going to look at them. 0:00:32.560 --> 0:00:37.559 That was artist, writer designer Myra Kellman telling why she 0:00:37.640 --> 0:00:42.199 rejects cynicism. She was talking specifically about her work on 0:00:42.400 --> 0:00:47.880 musician David Burns Broadway show American Utopia, but she could 0:00:47.880 --> 0:00:52.160 be describing her approach to any of the dozens of books, paintings, 0:00:52.159 --> 0:00:57.280 and collaborations that have earned her countless honors and fans. 0:00:58.680 --> 0:01:02.320 I'm a land vere in the Ceseneca's One Women To Hear. 0:01:03.040 --> 0:01:05.640 We are bringing you one hundred of the world's most 0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:12.040 inspiring and history making women you need to hear. Myra 0:01:12.240 --> 0:01:15.360 Kalman is probably best known for her famous cover of 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:18.920 The New Yorker magazine, a humorous map of the city 0:01:19.120 --> 0:01:23.200 labeled New York is Stan. Her children's books include What 0:01:23.360 --> 0:01:27.319 Pete eight from A to Z, an illustrated catalog of 0:01:27.360 --> 0:01:32.000 the bizarre but real items her dog scarfed down, and 0:01:32.160 --> 0:01:36.240 her adult books include an illustrated version of the Grammar 0:01:36.280 --> 0:01:42.000 Guide The Elements of Style. Her next book, Women Holding Things, 0:01:42.480 --> 0:01:47.760 will publish in October of twenty two. Listen and learn 0:01:47.960 --> 0:01:51.960 why Myrack Kalman is one of Seneca's One Women to Hear. 0:01:55.000 --> 0:02:00.000 I'm speaking today to writer, artist, illustrator, and so much more, 0:02:00.560 --> 0:02:04.520 Mara Kalman. Mara, welcome. We're delighted to be able to 0:02:04.560 --> 0:02:09.079 have you for this conversation today. Thank you very much. Now, 0:02:09.120 --> 0:02:13.839 you're a writer, a painter, an illustrator, a designer, a journalist. 0:02:14.440 --> 0:02:17.960 You work in so many media. What is the thread 0:02:18.040 --> 0:02:20.840 running through your work and what are you trying to 0:02:20.880 --> 0:02:23.960 say to the world. The threat is probably a certain 0:02:24.040 --> 0:02:29.040 naivete coupled with optimism and curiosity. And I think that I, 0:02:29.760 --> 0:02:33.079 since I never studied any of these things really seriously, 0:02:33.200 --> 0:02:35.720 I allowed myself to do everything that I want to do. 0:02:36.240 --> 0:02:38.520 And I think that's probably what I want to say, 0:02:38.680 --> 0:02:40.960 is that just looking at the world with a kind 0:02:40.960 --> 0:02:43.920 of wonder and being able to tell your story is 0:02:43.960 --> 0:02:49.640 an extraordinary privilege and really rare good fortune. So I 0:02:49.639 --> 0:02:52.400 think I'm trying to tell people just to look and 0:02:52.480 --> 0:02:55.239 not think too much. I'll start with that. I love 0:02:55.320 --> 0:02:59.400 that answer, and I love the combination of curiosity and 0:02:59.440 --> 0:03:03.440 optimism him. So back in the autumn of two thousand 0:03:03.520 --> 0:03:07.000 and one, just a few weeks after nine eleven, you 0:03:07.120 --> 0:03:09.760 created a cover for The New Yorker magazine that made 0:03:09.760 --> 0:03:13.000 people laugh and feel good about New York. It was 0:03:13.040 --> 0:03:16.280 a map of the city that gave neighborhoods new but 0:03:16.400 --> 0:03:23.480 appropriate names. Swanky areas were labeled Peshmina or Botoxia. Other 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:28.880 neighborhoods were called Cavetchina or taxi stand. What was the 0:03:29.000 --> 0:03:31.799 thinking behind that cover, which became one of the most 0:03:31.960 --> 0:03:35.080 famous in the magazine's history. And I remember it so well. 0:03:35.520 --> 0:03:37.560 It was one of those moments that you're not looking 0:03:37.600 --> 0:03:39.440 for and you're not expecting it. I get it. In 0:03:39.520 --> 0:03:43.560 collaboration with a good friend, also a cartoonist and a writer, 0:03:43.640 --> 0:03:48.000 Rick Myrowitz, and we were going to a party in 0:03:48.040 --> 0:03:51.520 the aftermath of nine eleven, maybe a few months after, 0:03:52.360 --> 0:03:55.080 still in great shock and in great sorrow, and we 0:03:55.120 --> 0:03:57.520 started talking about New York in what a tribal place 0:03:57.600 --> 0:03:59.920 that was, and that we were driving to the Bronch 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:02.120 said I think I said wrong, Well, I think we're 0:04:02.120 --> 0:04:04.840 in Bronxis then, And that set us off on a 0:04:04.880 --> 0:04:07.440 complete tangent. And you know when you you when you 0:04:07.680 --> 0:04:10.160 of course, people's job to be funny, and you you know, 0:04:10.240 --> 0:04:13.000 you know when when there is humor that you can 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:17.919 you can use to to to diminish pain and to 0:04:18.000 --> 0:04:21.800 diminish fear. And that is something that we face every 0:04:21.800 --> 0:04:25.360 single day, especially now in the circumstances now which are 0:04:25.400 --> 0:04:31.440 so extraordinary and so heartbreaking. So our response was to 0:04:31.480 --> 0:04:33.919 make fun of ourselves in a way and say, you know, 0:04:33.920 --> 0:04:39.000 we're all in this crazy world together. Fortunately, David Remnick 0:04:39.040 --> 0:04:41.560 and Prince Wise believe the New Yorker thought thought there 0:04:41.600 --> 0:04:43.760 was a good idea to put it on the cover. Well, 0:04:44.279 --> 0:04:46.960 they're good judges of something that can make a difference, 0:04:47.000 --> 0:04:49.760 and you did certainly in that instance and so many others. 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:53.880 You've written dozens of children's books as well, and you've 0:04:53.880 --> 0:04:57.760 written books for adults. Of all your books, is there 0:04:57.800 --> 0:05:01.520 a favorite? Is there one the best expresses who you are? 0:05:02.120 --> 0:05:03.800 It's funny because every time I write a book, I 0:05:03.839 --> 0:05:05.640 say this is this, This is it? This is my 0:05:05.720 --> 0:05:08.279 favorite book? And then I say, uh, not so much. 0:05:08.279 --> 0:05:10.159 I'll wait for the next. I hope the next one 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:12.599 is my favorite. And in fact, now I can say 0:05:12.600 --> 0:05:14.960 that my next one is my favorite. Is called Women 0:05:15.000 --> 0:05:19.880 Holding Things, and it's about what women hold literally and metaphorically, 0:05:20.480 --> 0:05:24.120 which is a lot indeed. And so it's paintings and 0:05:24.320 --> 0:05:27.720 writing about my family, about people that I know, and 0:05:27.800 --> 0:05:31.920 about the nature of going through life with some kind 0:05:31.920 --> 0:05:35.799 of courage and tenacity. Well, it sounds like it's something 0:05:35.920 --> 0:05:40.320 that's going to be extremely inspirational. You and your late 0:05:40.400 --> 0:05:44.080 husband had a design firm, M and Co. You've said 0:05:44.120 --> 0:05:47.679 one of your mottos for the company was we don't 0:05:47.760 --> 0:05:52.080 know anything, We're going to do it anyway. Now, how 0:05:52.120 --> 0:05:55.080 did that play out in your work? It played out 0:05:55.080 --> 0:05:56.680 the same way that it's played out for me in 0:05:56.720 --> 0:06:01.320 my career, in that my husband was very brilliant and 0:06:01.480 --> 0:06:04.320 very fearless, and I learned a lot about not being 0:06:04.320 --> 0:06:07.160 afraid to go ahead from him, that you can have 0:06:07.200 --> 0:06:09.040 an idea, but if you don't act on it, then 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:12.480 you're really you're a fool. In his opinion, That's how 0:06:12.520 --> 0:06:16.440 it was. And he died ridiculously young, but his his 0:06:16.560 --> 0:06:20.080 impact was very strong. So we always said, if you 0:06:20.200 --> 0:06:22.359 are as I said earlier, if you're curious, if you 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:25.520 if you approached the world like a journalist with a 0:06:25.560 --> 0:06:28.760 love of beauty and a sense of humor, there's really 0:06:28.800 --> 0:06:32.920 nothing that you can't try. You might fail, but that's okay. 0:06:33.160 --> 0:06:36.240 You know. Winston Churchill said that failure isn't fatal, which 0:06:36.240 --> 0:06:39.960 I said, remind myself every day. Yeah, it's a good 0:06:40.320 --> 0:06:43.479 it's a good thing to keep in mind, especially because 0:06:43.520 --> 0:06:46.599 none of us can live up to some perfectionist model. 0:06:46.680 --> 0:06:53.400 For sure. Absolutely, Senecas one hundred Women to Hear, will 0:06:53.440 --> 0:07:06.400 be back after this short break. You know, I'm especially 0:07:06.440 --> 0:07:09.480 interested in a in a book you did, Bold and Brave, 0:07:10.200 --> 0:07:13.360 ten heroes who won women the right to vote, and 0:07:13.520 --> 0:07:17.360 it features your gorgeous paintings of well known crusaders like 0:07:17.400 --> 0:07:21.000 Susan b. Anthony and Sojourn Her Truth, as well as 0:07:21.080 --> 0:07:26.000 lesser knowns like Alice Paul and Married Church Terrell. Why 0:07:26.080 --> 0:07:29.200 were you drawn to this topic? I was drawn with 0:07:29.240 --> 0:07:31.960 a phone call from Kirsten Gillibrand, who wrote the book, 0:07:32.400 --> 0:07:35.800 and I was so and I happened to be installing 0:07:35.800 --> 0:07:37.520 a show in Jerusalem at the time, and it was 0:07:37.560 --> 0:07:39.240 really lovely to get a phone call from her and 0:07:39.280 --> 0:07:41.040 she said, I'm doing this book, will you do it? 0:07:41.280 --> 0:07:44.440 And I think it took me two or three seconds 0:07:44.480 --> 0:07:48.960 to say yes, of course, uh and and uh. A 0:07:49.000 --> 0:07:51.520 lot of the time when I'm working and things are emotional, 0:07:51.560 --> 0:07:53.840 like when I did the book fire Boat about nine 0:07:53.920 --> 0:07:57.160 eleven for children, I'm crying when I'm painting. I mean 0:07:57.160 --> 0:07:59.560 not all the time, because that would be excessive, but 0:08:00.160 --> 0:08:05.880 there's a sense of phenomenal admiration and gratitude to these 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:10.360 women who were so courageous. So it was a beautiful collaboration. 0:08:10.560 --> 0:08:12.560 And I didn't know about some of the women, as 0:08:12.600 --> 0:08:14.600 you said, some of them are much much lesser known, 0:08:14.640 --> 0:08:18.000 But so it was an education for me too. And 0:08:18.040 --> 0:08:20.840 it's one of those books that is evergreen. It's a 0:08:20.880 --> 0:08:24.720 wonderful book to have to keep to read. So thank 0:08:24.760 --> 0:08:27.600 you for doing what you did to make it even 0:08:27.640 --> 0:08:32.320 more wonderful. Thank you. You designed and illustrated a book 0:08:32.320 --> 0:08:37.480 with musician David Byrne called American Utopia. It's now a 0:08:37.520 --> 0:08:40.880 show on Broadway, and one description of the book called 0:08:40.920 --> 0:08:44.640 it an antidote to cynicism. It sounds like something we 0:08:44.679 --> 0:08:50.840 really need for these times. So tell us about American utopia. Utopia, 0:08:51.160 --> 0:08:55.000 just the word utopia, you know, it's it's it's always 0:08:55.160 --> 0:08:59.600 so hard to maintain a sense of hope, and and 0:09:00.000 --> 0:09:02.960 I feel so much despairs, you know, especially as we said, 0:09:03.360 --> 0:09:06.880 in these times. But David, who is an old friend 0:09:06.920 --> 0:09:09.120 of mine who have known for for many, many years, 0:09:09.160 --> 0:09:12.079 and we've worked together on a number of projects. By 0:09:12.080 --> 0:09:14.320 the way, the show is closing April third, so I 0:09:14.480 --> 0:09:16.800 urge anybody who's listening to go because it is one 0:09:16.840 --> 0:09:21.400 of the most joyous, spirit lifting things that you could 0:09:21.440 --> 0:09:24.439 possibly imagine. And his music is so great. But the 0:09:24.760 --> 0:09:26.920 and I did that the curtain the show curtain, which 0:09:26.920 --> 0:09:29.520 is how the book came about. But we we both 0:09:29.559 --> 0:09:32.600 share a lack of cynicism, and it doesn't mean that 0:09:32.640 --> 0:09:36.680 we're stupid or or pollyanna ish. So that means maybe 0:09:36.720 --> 0:09:38.160 that's not a bad thing to be, I don't know, 0:09:38.800 --> 0:09:41.600 but that we we have a sense of balance, that 0:09:41.679 --> 0:09:44.400 we know that there terrible things going on, and we 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:46.840 know that there are splendid things going on in the world, 0:09:47.480 --> 0:09:49.720 and you have to look for the good. Sometimes it 0:09:49.720 --> 0:09:51.720 seems like more of a struggle and more of a challenge. 0:09:51.760 --> 0:09:55.000 But really you have to face the day and say 0:09:55.080 --> 0:09:57.880 there there are good things going on and we're going 0:09:57.960 --> 0:10:00.640 to look at That. Sounds like a of life to 0:10:00.720 --> 0:10:03.160 me if you can make it happen. Yeah, it's not 0:10:03.200 --> 0:10:05.559 always easy, and it doesn't work all day long for sure, 0:10:05.960 --> 0:10:08.440 but it's something that you need to do otherwise you 0:10:08.120 --> 0:10:11.440 you collapse in despair. Well, to follow up on the 0:10:11.520 --> 0:10:15.160 limited time we have, let me just ask you, Given 0:10:15.600 --> 0:10:17.680 what's going on in the world right now, and it's 0:10:17.760 --> 0:10:22.880 particularly horrific to see those images from Ukraine, what makes 0:10:22.920 --> 0:10:27.120 you optimistic? What gives you hope? You talked about optimism 0:10:27.160 --> 0:10:30.600 and hope is such a thread through everything you do. 0:10:31.320 --> 0:10:33.160 I think the things that give me hope are the 0:10:33.320 --> 0:10:37.200 very small things doing my which aren't small things, but 0:10:37.240 --> 0:10:41.000 they feel small. Doing your work, being with the people 0:10:41.080 --> 0:10:45.400 you love, walking through a park and looking at nature, 0:10:47.000 --> 0:10:52.559 and allowing yourself to engage in the things that are 0:10:52.640 --> 0:10:55.400 really meaningful and beautiful. That gives you courage, and that 0:10:55.480 --> 0:10:59.600 gives you strength and hope. And we're so engrossed in 0:10:59.679 --> 0:11:03.960 love curly burly of life that we somehow often miss 0:11:04.000 --> 0:11:08.520 what's really precious. Well, thank you for the spirit lifting 0:11:08.559 --> 0:11:11.640 work that you do in all of your creations and 0:11:11.720 --> 0:11:16.080 for making our lives so much richer. Thank you so much, 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:19.160 Myra Kellman, Thank you very much. A pleasure to talk 0:11:19.200 --> 0:11:27.640 to you. That was an amazing perspective and creativity and life. 0:11:28.320 --> 0:11:32.600 Here are three things I took from that conversation. First, 0:11:33.080 --> 0:11:37.360 I love Myra's insight that not knowing what you're doing 0:11:37.800 --> 0:11:41.760 can lead to great accomplishments. She wants us to not 0:11:42.000 --> 0:11:45.520 take things too seriously, to look at the world with 0:11:45.600 --> 0:11:49.240 a kind of wonder, to just look and not think 0:11:49.280 --> 0:11:55.520 too much. Second, her approach to life is try anything 0:11:55.640 --> 0:11:59.840 and everything. You might fail, she says, but that's okay 0:12:00.280 --> 0:12:06.559 because failure is not fatal. Finally, let's draw inspiration from 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:09.720 the small things, like being with the people you love, 0:12:10.200 --> 0:12:15.640 walking through a park, seeing nature. As Miras says, allowing 0:12:15.720 --> 0:12:19.360 yourself to engage in the things that are really meaningful 0:12:19.480 --> 0:12:25.240 and beautiful can give you courage, strength and hope. Tune 0:12:25.280 --> 0:12:28.640 in next time to hear about our next featured woman 0:12:29.240 --> 0:12:33.600 and discover why she's one of Seneca's on Women to Hear. 0:12:35.240 --> 0:12:38.040 Seneca's one hundred Women to Hear is a collaboration between 0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:40.960 the Seneca Women Podcast Network, and I Heart Radio with 0:12:41.000 --> 0:12:46.760 support from founding partner Pung. Have a great day.