Ahbez Pen-Pal Publishes New Article/Memoir

Roy Behrens—a retired professor of Graphic Design at the University of Northern Iowa and published author on the topic of Dazzle Ships (among other things)—has recently published an article about his pen-pal relationship with Eden Ahbez in the early 1960s in the most recent issue of the Iowa Source magazine. (Read it here.)

For those unaware, Behrens originally published his Ahbez memoir as a short-print booklet in the early 2000s, titled On Eden Ahbez: Nature Boy Spelled Backwards, and has more recently been interviewed for our film, As the Wind: The Enchanted Life of Eden Ahbez.

Roy also painted a portrait of Ahbez in the early sixties, when he was a pre-teen, which the composer kept amongst his few belongings until the end of his life. A cropped part of the painting is shown above and will be explored further in the documentary. (Behrens also discusses it in the article above.)

Thanks to him for sending us this great article, and as Mildred Bailey once sang, “Thanks for the memories!”