Barnacles

About the Book

In 1984, the first Apple Macintosh computer went on sale. I was still using a Smith-Corona typewriter and doing retypes for every edit. The first release of Barnacles was actually done with waxed newspaper columns and traditional paste-up. That year, the U.S. attacked Nicaragua and President Reagan called for an International ban on chemical weapons. Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated while 3800 people were killed in the Bhopal disaster. Thousands were injured and 600,000 more would later die.

My problems seemed so insignificant. I had just gone thru a divorce and found out that there is a thin line between love and hate. I had been told that my first book “Letters From The Hole” was too dark and depressing. However, they read my poems in college English classes, so I kept writing. The verses that I scribbled on pieces of scratch paper and bar napkins became “Barnacles,” the pieces of my life that stuck and were extremely hard to scrape off.

About the Author

About The Author

Brian K. Smith attended College Of The Mainland on a Journalism scholarship. He also attended University of Houston at Clear Lake, pursing an English degree. He was editor of his college newspaper and was known for his editorial cartoons. Brian received awards from the La Marque, Houston and Galveston press associations. He was also published in a collection of works with Vassar Miller, a Pulitzer Prize winner.

About The Illustrator

Wayne Rygaard sadly left this earth but will live on through his artwork and humorous wit. Wayne was a resident and native of Galveston. His artwork was used for the Dicken’s on the Strand Post Office stamps and his drawings of the old Galveston mansions were among some of the prints that he sold. His artwork was desired by Weird Magazine, as well as others.