Rest in Peace, Tom Robbins, and thank you. This book really opened my mind back in the late 80's. The Red Beards conspiracy? I suddenly realized that a novel full of original ideas could be funny as hell, as well. It must've been 1989 (Oxford Books in Atlanta?) when I got his autograph and told him I wanted to write a book about a guy who spends his entire life in an ice cream shop. He laughed and told me to send it to him. I was all excited but then I went to college, got in a band, and I never wrote that book 😭. It's ok, I ended up writing other stuff! Anyway, I'm no Tom Robbins, but everything I write always contains at least a tiny fraction or a trace element of his writerly brio and pizzazz. I remember reading "Still Life With Woodpecker" and thinking that he must've had such a freaking blast writing it. Whereas up until then I'd always pictured novelists as dreary dour dudes like Dostoevsky. So yeah, you opened my eyes, Tom. Thank you, and may the road rise with you! ❤️✌️