"Fortunately for me I had a father who devoured an enormous quantity of books.  So I read everything that fell into my hands:  Aesop, Balzac, La Fontaine, Peter Rabbit, Mark Twain, Dickens, the dictionary, O. Henry, anything.  But even authors like Jean-Paul Sartre inspire me in a sort of reverse action with lots of ideas.  "No Exit" (that will surprise you) is for me a mine of gags, since it symbolizes the frustration of the human condition.  And as for James Joyce, whom I cannot read without a Gaelic dictionary–and a Greek dictionary, a Bible, a book of liturgical vestments and an almanac–well, anyone who has a Gaelic dictionary knows it is one of the humourous masterpieces of the world.  So the peripheral advantages of research are manifest.

"The Persistence of Carrots" fine art limited edition hand-pulled lithograph by Chuck Jones.

Happy Thanksgiving, constant readers, we appreciate you!