Mrs. Crump

I received an unexpected call last week from Jeri Fouts of Oregon. I have never met her, but she happens to be the granddaughter of a woman pictured in a lithograph I made in 1983.

Crump Cleaners, 1983
lithograph on paper. 30" x 44"
Edition of 24; 2 available

While attending CSULB in the late 70's, I passed this Anaheim Boulevard cleaners on my commute through Long Beach. Each morning the proprietor was there, in a red sweater, drinking coffee and reading the paper. The scene looked like an Edward Hopper painting to me, with the lone figure and the long shadows on the building. A few years later I was passing by and there she still was, in the same position, as if time had stopped. I had my camera with me and took a photo, which I used as a reference for the lithograph.

It hung in my friend Rick's restaurant in San Pedro for several years. One day a surprised couple told Rick they knew the building and the woman in the picture. They were Jeri's mother- and father-in-law. More of the family came by to see it and they purchased one from a nearby gallery that carried my prints. This was 25 years ago.

I was thrilled to get the call from Jeri, who now owns the lithograph. She had a few questions, and she told me more about her grandmother. Her name was Merle Crump, but her family called her Princess. She and her husband owned the cleaners and the house in back of it, where they raised Jeri's mother. Merle did indeed enjoy her coffee and paper each morning, so much so that after her husband passed away and the business was closed, she still came into the shop each morning to have her coffee, read her paper, and visit with neighbors.

There are so many coincidences and connections here, but one detail Jeri shared with me gives me chills: The day her in-laws discovered the picture in Rick's restaurant was the anniversary of Merle's death.