Ross MacDonald
PERFECTLY
VERSATILE WITH STYLE
"I liked to draw when I was a kid, although most of my family wasn’t at all artistic. When I was in second grade, I was confined to a hospital bed for 6 months. I read and re-read tons of Classics Illustrated comics and drew for entertainment."
For many years Ross MacDonald has been a contributor to periodicals like Vanity Fair, The New York Times, The New Yorker, Newsweek, Time, and Rolling Stone, creating illustrations and writing humor pieces. He also authored and illustrated 4 children’s books, as well as the adult humor books In and Out with Dick and Jane, (with co-author James Victore) and What Would Jesus Craft? Yet all the while he has led a secret double life designing and fabricating props for over 40 movies and television series. He has made everything from the book Bradley Cooper’s character throws out the window in Silver Linings Play-book, to the titular Book of Secrets for the second National Treasure movie; Jennifer Lawrence’s mop patents for Joy; baby’s favorite book in Baby’s Day Out; Nucky Thompson’s checkbook and Arnold Rothstein’s calling card for
Boardwalk Empire; the morgue toetags in The Knick; the Pawnee town charter for Parks and Recreation; the Red Tobacco tin in Tarantino’s Hateful Eight; Versace’s book in the latest season of American Crime Story and thousands of other props. Born and raised in the backwoods of Canada, he lived for many years in New York City before finally washing up on the bucolic shores of Connecticut.
I had the pleasure of doing a Pod cast with Ross and I found him to be thoughtful, funny and full of life. He's an example of making the right choices in his life and thriving. I was particularly impressed by his candor and willingness to share his story and methods of working. His story is a great example of being prepared when opportunity presents itself. And now our interview...