Father and son creatives Rob Snow and Adrian Guenther have joined forces to publish a whimsical picture book with a clever Fort Wayne connection titled, The Man with Invisible Feathers.
Its fast-paced storyline unfolds as our protagonist navigates his world believing he has feathers despite public skepticism, and young readers can visit local landmarks and find treasures on every richly illustrated page.
Now retired from a career as an intensive care and psychiatric nurse, Snow’s writings focus on the magic of existence and hope for the growth of the universal mind.
His son Adrian, former portrayer of the beloved local television character Happy the Hobo continues to channel his creativity through his unique perspective cultivated as ARG the ARTisT and is know for his bold paintings rich with dark humor, hidden messages and pop-culture mash-ups.
Here WBOI’s Julia Meek discusses the story of the book's origins with the pair and how they came together to develop it, along with their own relationship, through Adrian’s artcentricity and Rob’s belief in the “magic of existence.”
Find out more about The Man with Invisible Feathers and ordering information here.
This is a transcript of our conversation:
Julia Meek: Adrian Guenther, Rob Snow, welcome.
Adrian Guenther: Thank you very much.
Rob Snow: Thank you.
Julia Meek: So, your brand new, easy-to-read book is out, full of whimsy, wisdom and a host of local landmarks. First, a one-sentence set up, please, Rob?
Rob Snow: It's a story about a guy who believes that he has invisible feathers and all of the repercussions that his existence faces as a result of that statement.
Julia Meek: Interesting from that scenario, Rob, thank you for that. Now Adrian, last time we met over the mic, you had just illustrated your first kids book, Hiccup Ben, with local jazz musician John Weber. So, how does this storyline itself spark the "ARGtheARTisT's (that's you) flame?
Adrian Guenther: Well, [chuckles] he wrote it 20 years ago. The first time I read it, he brought it to, like a coffee shop. I read it. I did not know what was going to happen.
I didn't know him that well at the time, even this was, you know, we just got to know each other. And I was in suspense til the last moment. And I loved the ending.
Julia Meek: You knew you had to illustrate it right then and there?
Adrian Guenther: I knew I had to illustrate it right then and there. I originally asked him if I could illustrate this book before I illustrated Hiccup Ben. And he said no. And then I handed him a copy of Hiccup Ben. He saw it, and he finally said yes.
Julia Meek: Adding those landmarks, and I mean they are everywhere, multiple, every page, every suggestion, every nuance--hidden, right in your face. Would you tell us how it came to be? Why was that important?
Adrian Guenther: Well, he gave me full creative control, and I decided to tell a story within, using his words, but my pictures, I wanted to tell multiple stories at the same time.
So, this is autobiographical to me. I love architecture. I love Fort Wayne, lifetime citizen. And this is a Fort Wayne adventure
Julia Meek: And the bigger story running parallel with and throughout this one is how the two of you got together and aligned to make it happen. So, please, would you share with us just how that came about?
Rob Snow: Well, we met for coffee, and we hadn't seen each other since he was a little papoose. [Adrian chuckles]
Julia Meek: Now that lets part of the plot out of the bag. You, biological father and son, hadn't seen each other for how many years?
Rob Snow: I would say for at least 25 years or more.
Julia Meek: Okay.
Adrian Guenther: I say 50. I mean in terms of like, really becoming father and son.
Julia Meek: You had lived different lives, different universes, all at the same time. Meanwhile, what was the catalyst for it happening at all?
Adrian Guenther: Art. I started making art, and I texted them to him, I got the feedback. We met up, and then we started meeting every 40 days.
Julia Meek: Oh my goodness, what a wonderful reason. And look what happened that quickly, that fast. Let's hear it for the art of the persuasion of art. What did it mean to you? What kind of an instant?
Adrian Guenther: I didn't know I was an artist. And this man, my dad, told me I was an artist, and I became an artist. I feel like the man with invisible feathers, and my feathers are art.
I told a lot of people I was an artist, and they saw what I was making, and they might have had a different opinion [all laugh] but he never, he never said anything bad about anything I did except, you know, stop painting zombies. He called them zambies. [all chuckle]
Julia Meek: Well, fathers and sons do have to have those conversations every once in a while, but what a wonderfully happy story.
And let's look briefly at the result of your combined power teaming. I mean, you had the manuscript, itwas written in 2005. Put you two together how many years after that?
Adrian Guenther: About 15.
Julia Meek: Fifteen years after that, now we're going forward full steam ahead. What skills did you find in common and or complementary to each other's strong points that you may or may not have known that you had?
Rob Snow: Well, Adrian was able to take the whole story and make it totally unique and Fort Wayne-centric.
When I originally wrote it, it was supposed to be universally-centric, but then, by bringing the Fort Wayne element in, it makes it much more personal to everybody that reads it.
Julia Meek: Yourself included?
Rob Snow: Myself included. I loved the way he did the art, and I was totally surprised.
That was one of our rules, was that he had creative power and that I didn't even want to see it until it was completed.
Julia Meek: Oh, my, then you had trust in your son and or quite a flair for adventure, maybe a little bit of both. What was the drive behind that decision?
Rob Snow: I just thought if I let him have it and didn't interfere with my single mindedness, [all chuckle] he would just grow exponentially from the experience, and it would be like wringing a cloth to get the most out of the story that could possibly got.
Julia Meek: And what a wonderful opportunity for you, Adrian. Now what, if anything, surprised you two the most once you did get down into the groove of the story, and of course, you illustrating it?
Adrian Guenther: Its kind of like solving a puzzle when I have the words and I have to figure out, well, how do I tell these stories?
And I put the whole thing up on the wall, all the pages. Let's call them pages. I think of them as painting panels, and I start building the backgrounds. I love the backgrounds.
Julia Meek: And how many panels did we come up with?
Adrian Guenther: I think there's 29 in this, including the cover. I was really surprised at how the character came to life. So, I had built all of the backgrounds, and I needed him to kind of be recognizable from page to page.
And it took me eight months, and my style kind of changes over time. And I was surprised how he came together. I was surprised how much side story I could put in it.
I could sit for hours and tell you what's going on in the subtext, just for visual people, just looking.
Julia Meek: And a lot of that has to do with your landmarks hidden and hidden in plain sight.
Adrian Guenther: Landmarks, friends, the context of those landmarks. What's going on? I manifested a Devo concert because I had painted the Embassy and you have to fill the marquee.
And I asked myself, what would the very most amazing concert be? And I put Devo on my birthday, and I thought they retired, like, 40 years ago, and my cousin saw it online.
He's like, oh, they're coming to Columbus. Boom, I saw them in June! [all chuckle]
Julia Meek: And now, Rob, how do you feel the story went together once both of you were on board and on his storyboard?
Rob Snow: I thought it was fantastic. It was like he had told a whole nother story with the illustrations. I was just amazed at how well he did and the detail and the references.
And then he had this one idea one day, he says, well, we should have made it into like a treasure map. And I said, No, there is a treasure on every page.
That is really true. If you look at these pages, you'll find something you know about or have seen or experienced.
Julia Meek: Or you want to know about, and a question, there is at least one bird on every page.
Rob Snow: Yes.
Julia Meek: With feathers, and we don't know how many birds, but perhaps there'll be a contest some day figuring that out?
Adrian Guenther: I would love to do a seek and find, because there's like, four UFOs in the book, and there's at least one bird on every page.
I'm gonna spend some time counting the birds. And my ideal state would be elementary school. kids in this area use this book, and teachers can have a little fun hour or two, seek and find. You know, even kindergartners can do a seek and find.
Julia Meek: Of course, and of all the wonderful things that are hidden, there is a radio station in there we all know and love. How did that make your list of notables?
Adrian Guenther: Well, the man with invisible feathers has some tough times working. But one of the jobs he did, he sat in your very chair, and he hosted a show called Feather Talk. [all chuckle]
And it's right up his alley, because he gets in trouble a lot for talking about his feathers, but he was semi-embraced by the WBOI audience.
Julia Meek: For awhile, and it was fun while it lasted. Thank you for that. [Adrian chuckles] And before all of the above, Rob, the story was emerging, your son would be illustrating it, a lot of crazy dream-come-true here.
How would you say your own professions, educator, retired intensive care and psychiatric nurse, shaped your perspective on life, as well as storytelling like this?
Rob Snow: I've seen people live and die. I've seen people struggle with the thoughts in their minds. I have helped people to get on with their lives.
And I think that the best thing was to try and write a story where somebody is struggling just to get their own worldview recognized. When that happens, it takes a while for people to adjust.
And so I would say that basically my experiences as a nurse and my brief experience in elementary education both contributed to what the book eventually became.
Julia Meek: That all makes wonderful sense, Rob and the magic of existence, now that is one of your recurring author topics in your own life's path. Where does this or maybe I should ask, where do you fit in the equation, that magic of existence?
Rob Snow: I think this whole book is about magic of existence, because at one point you don't really know what is going to happen. And you can either look at it realistically, or you can look at it through the eyes of magic and see the possibility of the unknown.
And I think that in my belief and in my life, the magic of existence is just knowing the motions and the times of the universe and how they come together, and how people get along, and the way we react to one another as a people.
I believe all of those are reflected in this story.
Julia Meek: Adrian, what about you? Make sense, what he just said?
Adrian Guenther: Yeah, I think he just explained what I've learned of him, in a nutshell. This man moves with the universe. He's in sync with the stars.
I've learned a lot from that, because I'm kind of just sitting here an earthling [all chuckle] and in a universe. And yeah, I'll watch Star Trek.
But this guy, he's, he feels which way gravity's pulling him or something. So thank you for that, bringing that to my life.
Julia Meek: Yeah, thank you for all of us and...
Rob Snow: Fist bump!
Julia Meek: Fist bump, indeed. Meanwhile, Adrian, second book illustration, are you finding your stride? And by the way, just what is it about assignment artwork that calls your name?
Adrian Guenther: Well, I paint a lot, and I'm going to paint every day, so it's fun to have a cohesive, large project, instead of just going through the river of, you know, seven paintings a week.
But on the side, having a story and watching it develop over a course of months. It's very exciting. It's very fun.
Julia Meek: And back to that magic of existence I would think, in action.
Adrian Guenther: Yeah, exactly. Building the Embassy, and then eight months later, adding the character, you know, all of these locations sat there, empty, no birds, no man with invisible feathers, nothing like that. [all chuckle]
Then you put him in there, and it's magical.
Julia Meek: Once again, boom, indeed! Back to that power of the written word. What does pairing it with illustration and then sending it out into the world do for each of you, writer and illustrator, writer, you go first.
Rob Snow: I think it's a good thing to give children the opportunity to decide how they're going to think and behave in the wide world.
Do you believe people when they tell you things? Do you have skepticism? Do you have joy, or are you just waiting to see what happens?
Rob Snow: What about you, Adrian?
Adrian Guenther: As an illustrator, and looking at his words, I had so much fun. There's about three places I played with his words, because I had full control.
So he said, The people look like dots, because the man's on top of a building. The people look like dots. And I drew the Dots Candy, which is one of my favorite candies. They're delicious.
And he said he was having trouble finding food, and his clothes were getting old. And you see him standing in front of Cindy's Diner in like some beautiful vintage clothing that's actually pretty nice clothes, but they were old. [all chuckle]
Julia Meek: There is a lot of literal fun going on in the words and the illustrations, you two and as biological father and son, what does that same project we're talking about here do for that side of your equation, the father and son side.
Adrian Guenther: Look where we are right now, sitting together. This is dad's first time in a radio station, and it's been a big part of my life, you know, media and whatnot.
This is great for me to share this with him, and him, he shares the universe with me, and I'm sharing this room with him.
Julia Meek: And you're sharing all of it with all of us, and we do thank you for that. Individually and or collectively. Time to ask, what's on those storyboards, drawing easels?
Rob Snow: I've written several of these little picture books over the years, and I continue to write. I publish on Facebook, and I also am working on a sequel to this story.
And I have created a universe of characters that have been in many adventures in many different lands.
Julia Meek: Well, you've got all of our curiosities piqued right here, right now, including yours, Adrian?
Adrian Guenther: Yeah, spoiler alert! I didn't know you were actually working on part two. Wow! I'm hearing it now for the first time.
Julia Meek: Well, are you going to be standing in line waiting for the illustration job, we hope?
Adrian Guenther: Oh yeah, I'll be there. But my next project is going to be titled, I Am Not a Robot, and it's about a robot who really wants to be a human, and he's a newspaper box.
I was actually surprised illustrating this book, how many times a newspaper box is just sitting there and like, what if it's a robot?
And what if they'd rather be a human? And what if they lie when they're on the computer and it says, are you a robot?
Julia Meek: There's a lot of questions that do need answering. [Adrian laughs] Is this piece something that you might be writing yourself?
Adrian Guenther: No, I'm writing it, yeah. Yeah. And it came from a painting I made, titled, I Am Not a Robot, yeah. And I'm like, this has got to be a book, and I'm gonna have fun with it.
Julia Meek: And we do count on both of you keeping us posted so we will be able to keep our audiences the same. And now that this chapter of life has been put out there, let's look at it from the outside in, guys.
What's the biggest takeaway you hope everyone reading, hearing, turning on to this story might have?
Rob Snow: I think people need to be kind to each other. They need to pay attention to one another.
This story would have had a whole different outcome if the protagonist had been met with appropriate behaviors of the people.
If they had assisted him or helped him, instead of constantly rebuking and doubting what was going on.
Julia Meek: Good point.
Rob Snow: The most important thing is, is that people need to be good to each other, and you never know what kind of magic is within each of us.
Adrian Guenther: Wow, that's a good answer. You never know what kind of magic is within each of us. That's really cool. Right now, I want people to believe in themselves.
It takes a lot of self-belief to push through some of the, you know, friction out there when you're trying to go from A to B or change anything in your life.
And there are, if you look closely at the illustrations, he's converting some people. There's actually, I don't know if you even know this, there's a woman with invisible feathers in the book, and I get visual clues about that, but she's very excited about his message.
Julia Meek: As everyone should be. And last question now, from the inside out, what's the biggest takeaway this very book, The Man with Invisible Feathers, has given the two of you.
Rob Snow: I think for me as the writer, that I'm just so happy that it could be published, that it was publishable, that others can read it and experience it, and I certainly hope that when people do enjoy the book, that they find some part of themselves within the story.
Julia Meek: Adrian?
Adrian Guenther: Yeah, for me, I still feel what I felt the first time I read the end. And I've had the chance recently to witness people read this book, and I've heard gasps and seen people shiver.
So there's a visceral reaction for some, and it's really cool and life affirming to me to see that it's impacting others. That's what I love about the story so much.
Julia Meek: Adrian Guenther is illustrator of his father, Rob Snow's easy-to-read kids book, The Man with Invisible Feathers. Thank you for sharing this story within its other story, guys, congratulations on both, many blessings.
Adrian Guenther: Thank you so much for having us.
Rob Snow: It's an honor, Julia. You've been the pulse point of many great people in this town, and I really appreciate being able to sit with you. Thank you.
