I’m saddened by the news of John “Jack” Warren Freas’ passing yesterday, December 29 th .   Freas was one of Richard Amsel’s art teachers at the Philadelphia College of Art (later renamed The University of the Arts, which closed in 2024). An accomplished artist and illustrator himself, he was also an avid book collector, and ran a longstanding antiquarian bookstore, Tamerlane Books, from his home in Havertown, PA.   I met Freas there in June of 2017, along with his lovely wif

Today marks yet another WORLD AIDS DAY, where we commemorate those lost to AIDS, as well as to support the many people still struggling to survive with the disease.   I think the younger generations may never fully grasp the sheer magnitude of the devastation left in the wake of AIDS, nor the maddening political and social indifference, if not outright cruelty, so many of its victims were forced to endure during the Reagan/Bush eras. The profound, epic tragedy of AIDS goes fa