# A taboo topic **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 2, 2000, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-taboo-topic/9957 "2000-02-02T06:41:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-taboo-topic/9957/1 "2000-02-02T06:41:00Z")
We all know (and politely ignore) that when Little Ed takes his glasses off, he looks a lot like Cecil Adams. But I’ve never heard anyone guess about the secret identity of SD’s resident artiste, Slug Signorino. The FAQ has the following to offer:[q] **Where else can Slug’s work be seen?** Slug is a successful commercial artist. One of his many clients is Scott Foresman, the giant publishing company. For years Scott Foresman has been supplying the textbooks read by America’s schoolchildren. And here you’ve been blaming the whole thing on Hugh Hefner. [/q]I haven’t noticed any comercial art I’ve seen that resembles Slug’s “style” (if you can call it that), but then, I haven’t really been looking, especially in grammar school textbooks. Anyone want to risk ungodly punishment (characituring you next to one of Cecil’s columns is probably the worst he could really do, but come on, have you _seen_ some of those drawings?) by naming names, or even providing a sample of his other work? ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-taboo-topic/9957/2 "2000-02-02T06:44:00Z")
Stupid code! Maybe this will be easier to read: We all know (and politely ignore) that when Little Ed takes his glasses off, he looks a lot like Cecil Adams. But I’ve never heard anyone guess about the secret identity of SD’s resident artiste, Slug Signorino. The FAQ has the following to offer: > [@](#): > > **Where else can Slug’s work be seen?** > Slug is a successful commercial artist. One of his many clients is Scott Foresman, the giant publishing company. For years Scott Foresman has been supplying the textbooks read by America’s schoolchildren. And here you’ve been blaming the whole thing on Hugh Hefner. I haven’t noticed any comercial art I’ve seen that resembles Slug’s “style” (if you can call it that), but then, I haven’t really been looking, especially in grammar school textbooks. Anyone want to risk ungodly punishment (characituring you next to one of Cecil’s columns is probably the worst he could really do, but come on, have you _seen_ some of those drawings?) by naming names, or even providing a sample of his other work? ---
**Author:** ![douglips](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@douglips](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/douglips)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-taboo-topic/9957/3 "2000-02-02T16:36:00Z")
Now that you mention it, my high school physics text book (the non-math one, “Conceptual Physics”, Paul G. Hewitt I think) had art that I recall looked very similar to Slug’s. But, maybe I’m confabulating this, since it’s been 15 years since I saw the book. ---
**Author:** ![eden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5f9b8f/32.png) [@eden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eden)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-taboo-topic/9957/4 "2000-02-02T17:00:00Z")
douglips, I’m afraid Slug wasn’t the illustrator for Conceptual Physics, although the style is very similar. Alan: I hired Slug to illustrate some books when I was an editor with ScottForesman. Some titles to look for include Stand Up Math (there are three volumes) and Stand Up Geography (also a series of three levels). You might find them in educational bookstores or in the children’s section of regular bookstores. I can’t think of any others that I worked on that might still be in print. On a personal note, he is hilarious and it was great to work with him. It was indeed difficult to keep him from makeing the characters pee, or other outrageous (for the K-12 gang) antics. ---
**Author:** ![Frankie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@Frankie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frankie)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-taboo-topic/9957/5 "2000-02-02T17:10:00Z")
eden- Are you serious?? Thats a pretty great bursh with greatness! * * * -Frankie “Mother Mercy, can your loins bear fruit forever?/Is your fecundity a trammel or a treasure?” -Bad Religion ---
**Author:** ![eden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5f9b8f/32.png) [@eden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eden)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-taboo-topic/9957/6 "2000-02-02T17:35:00Z")
Frankie: I have posted about this before, but…either nobody believes me or (more likely) nobody cares. Want proof? Here’s a picture Slug drew of me: [http://www.i-mite.com/images/misc/eden\_slug.gif](http://www.i-mite.com/images/misc/eden_slug.gif) ---
**Author:** ![TheUnforgiven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TheUnforgiven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheUnforgiven)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-taboo-topic/9957/7 "2000-02-02T17:48:00Z")
Do you really hate squirrels that much? Or is it supposed to be a metaphor of something else? Or is it just plain random? ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Thin\_Skin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@Mr\_Thin\_Skin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Thin_Skin)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-taboo-topic/9957/8 "2000-02-02T17:50:00Z")
Wow! I am speechless… ---
**Author:** ![eden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5f9b8f/32.png) [@eden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eden)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-taboo-topic/9957/9 "2000-02-02T17:55:00Z")
Oh, please, let me explain… As we worked till the wee hours of the night, trying to come up with lots of images (540, one for each page of three books!), we started telling childhood stories. When I was young, I wore a tail pinned to my pants. I wanted to be a wolf. To this end I also chewed on bones (note the cow femur). And, I devised ways to catch squirrels (not kill them!). I never caught a one. But this is Slugs distillation of that information. What, you thought it would be pretty? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-taboo-topic/9957/10 "2000-02-02T17:56:00Z")
Cecilia Gallerani, Suzanne Fourment, Olympia Maldachini, Tehura, Victorine Meurent, and now eden. Being immortalized by one of the greats is an honor bestowed on few. But what’s the deal with the squirrel? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-taboo-topic/9957/11 "2000-02-02T17:57:00Z")
Okay, my question was already answered by the time I asked it. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2000, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-taboo-topic/9957/12 "2000-02-03T06:10:00Z")
And why the hair flip? Granted, it mirrors the tail (that Slug…a slave to symmetry). Is it a personal tic? ---
**Author:** ![eden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5f9b8f/32.png) [@eden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eden)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2000, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-taboo-topic/9957/13 "2000-02-03T06:16:00Z")
Well, Uke, as you can see, I had large, stupid hair. (You can even make out the damaged ends, which he failed to omit.) So yes, I guess personal tic would be an appropriate label. I did a lot of out-of-the-eyes hair flipping in those days. ::sighing, running hands through inch-long locks:: ---
**Author:** ![Nickrz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbce88/32.png) [@Nickrz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nickrz)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-taboo-topic/9957/14 "2000-02-02T19:51:00Z")
To be immortalized thus by the Great Slug is just too cool for words. Thanks for a great sidelight on our much beloved illustrator, Eden! ---
**Author:** ![SoulFrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@SoulFrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulFrost)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-taboo-topic/9957/15 "2000-02-02T20:11:00Z")
And a COLOR illustration, no less! -David _Who also wanted to be a wolf–too many episodes of “Lucan”._ ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-taboo-topic/9957/16 "2000-02-02T20:21:00Z")
Eden– I worked for ScottForesman for a while, too. Were you in Glenview? When? –Charley Darbo * * * If I were to say that today’s tomatoes are an index of the decline of Western man I should be thought a crank but nations do not, I think, ascend on such tomatoes. –Russell Hoban in _Turtle\_Diary_ ---
**Author:** ![eden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5f9b8f/32.png) [@eden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eden)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-taboo-topic/9957/17 "2000-02-02T20:41:00Z")
Lissener: yes, I worked in Glenview. I was there from 1993 to almost 1996…I got out before the sale! What department did you work in? SoulFrost: I read The Jungle Books when I was five. It was too early, I think. But I’m glad someone else wanted to be a wolf. Mostly, I just alienated my normal neighbor kids by wearing a tail and chewing bones in my back yard. If you want more juicy Slug details, all you have to do is ask! He’s quite a character (quelle surprise). ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-taboo-topic/9957/18 "2000-02-02T20:42:00Z")
Eden? Can I carry your books home from school? Great story, I think I’ll just squirrel that tale away for another time \. Cartooniverse * * * If you want to kiss the sky, you’d better learn how to kneel. ---
**Author:** ![eden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5f9b8f/32.png) [@eden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eden)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-taboo-topic/9957/19 "2000-02-02T20:57:00Z")
Or squirrel away that tail? Gyack, Cartooniverse, you make worse puns than my dad. Did I tell you Slug bought me perfume? I’ll have to see if I can find the Valentine’s Day card and scan it in… ---
**Author:** ![Sake\_Samurai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sake\_Samurai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sake_Samurai)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-taboo-topic/9957/20 "2000-02-02T23:49:00Z")
That picture’s great! Am I the only one here who finds your childhood to be a bit…unsusual? More details about Slug! * * * Yet to be reconciled with the reality of the dark for a moment, I go on wandering from dream to dream. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-taboo-topic/9957.md?page=2)