By Harold Rafson, August 25, 2016 — When we were married Dorothy was teaching at a New York City public grade school. The neighborhood was of mixed immigrants and the children spoke a variety of languages, often receiving little help at home where they still spoke their native tongue.
One day, as a teaching tool Dorothy made a sock puppet who also spoke [to] the children.
At break time the children came to the teacher’s desk, and picked up and played with the puppet. Dorothy noticed that, regardless of the language the child spoke, the puppet always spoke English. It was Dorothy’s English speaking puppet. She also noticed that even if they Spoke English poorly, they were more ready to have the puppet mark the errors.
Dorothy then made sock puppets for the instructors, and it became part of her teaching methods.
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Dorothy was an artist, daughter of a professional book illustrator who created a good many books.
When Dorothy was pregnant with our first child, it was a hot summer in New York, and I was away on an extended business trip.
Dorothy’s mother, Jessie, decided to leave New York for the summer and attend an art school being given by Maxwell Star, a WPA painter, in Gloucester, Mass. Dorothy, all alone, decided to join her.
On the weekend there was an art sale, and demonstration. Maxwell asked Dorothy to sit for a portrait. It was hot outside, in the 90s, and probably more in the forum where he staged the portrait painting. Dorothy was hot, pregnant, puffy and uncomfortable.
She could only see the backside of the canvas, and saw Maxwell pick up purple and green crayons, and couldn’t imagine what he saw in her image that called for that. At the end, it was a fine art portrait, not really flattering but a great likeness of Dorothy as she was at that time.
We purchased the portrait and have always had it hanging in our homes, as a reminder of that time in our life.