That handsome gent is Joe Sinnott, one of the most-admired comic book artists of the last half-century. Joe is a dear friend and a very nice, classy guy who is currently semi-retired. When he was working, a lot of folks called him the best inker in the business — meaning that others would draw the comic in pencil and then he'd go in with a pen, brush and India Ink to trace, interpret and otherwise finish their work. He made poor pencilers look good and good pencilers look better and you're probably wondering where I got that photo of him as a teen-ager. Well, I tweaked it a bit in Adobe Photoshop but I got it off an eBay listing where someone is auctioning off Joe's 1947 high school yearbook. There's a curio for his many fans.
The Smoking Gun (a wonderful website, indeed) has posted the platform statement for Strom Thurmond's 1948 presidential bid — the one Trent Lott praised. Have a look. And then go over and read Paul Krugman's latest.
A fine writer-friend named Peter David recently became a father again. He and his wife Kathleen named their new daughter Caroline after a friend of ours named Carol Kalish who died way too young. Realizing that some folks who recently came to comics might not know who Carol Kalish was, Peter has written a fine article recalling this fine lady.