You Are Not Dead, Yet.

Stories and Prints by John Parker Dilworth

Copyright © 2025 by John Parker Dilworth.

All rights reserved.

This combined volume brings together the portraits and stories from You Are Not Dead, Yet, You Are Not Dead, Yet 2, and You Are Not Dead, Yet 3.

For information about this book or to purchase prints or rights to any artwork, please contact:

John Dilworth
Knotwork Industries, LLC
2847 Melanie Lane
Ogden UT, 84403

All artwork, copy and book design by John Parker Dilworth.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

This work contains a combination of fictional narratives and references to real historical figures.

It is not death that a man should fear,
but he should fear never beginning
to live.
—Marcus Aurelius

Within these pages, each skull tells a story about mortality—some tales are tragic, others absurd, but all remind us of the strange ways our paths might end.
There are lessons to take to heart, but mostly I hope you smile at these skeletal portraits and their brief tales.

After all, you're not dead yet.

Randy Jacobsen was a robot who wandered into an Amish village.

The community embraced him when he chose to live without technology, though no one knew his origins.

He became beloved, easing their burdens through his protection, labor, and service to many generations of Amish families before his batteries failed.

Randy is dead.

Pierre Gaudé was an artist.

He always painted wearing a beret, believing it channeled creative powers into his work.

Many believed that he was superstitious and mocked him for his stereotypical look.

When not wearing his magical cap, he was never satisfied with the results, and left many paintings unfinished.

After his death, his most sought after paintings were the ones that he considered unfinished.

Pierre is dead.

Albert Jones was an extreme athlete.

He gained lucrative sponsorships by performing daring stunts while endorsing sugar sodas with high caffeine content.

His stunts grew more risky, he was less fearful and more careless, often refusing to wear helmets or protective pads.

Though never hurt during any stunts, he slipped on ice in his driveway, fracturing his skull.

Albert is dead.

Brett Falconstein loved to listen to music.

His happiest moments where those when he could sit alone with his headphones fully absorbed in the music around him.

He had a massive record collection and had invested in the highest quality audio equipment so that he could listen to his favorite artists in the highest and purest fidelity possible.

His favorite songs to listen to were slow tempo, melancholic songs with lonely, dark, and depressing lyrics.

Over the years he became more and more insulated and suffered from horrible depression. Instead of listening to music the latter years of his life, he would put on his headphones to block people, sitting in silence until he died.

Brett is dead.

H-1245 was among the first humanoid robots, designated only by a number and the prefix “H” for “Human.”+

Its software was designed to mirror human consciousness while exceeding human physical and mental capabilities.+

When a child pointed out that H-1245’s name was missing the number “3”, the robot encountered an irreconcilable error and failed to recover.+

H-1245 is dead.

Cynthia Mattheson was devoted to the beach.

She visited as often as she could, sitting for hours while the sun warmed her face, sand filled the spaces between her toes, and the rhythm of the waves dissolved every worry she carried.

Her doctor, family, and friends warned her about the risks. She listened.

She covered herself completely — hat, fabric, sunscreen on every exposed inch — until the ritual of protection grew so complicated that the joy simply left. She stopped going.

After only a few years, she died quietly in a dark room from a vitamin D deficiency.

Cynthia is dead.

John Zepka was a beekeeper who never wore protective gear. (†)

He had a way with them, his neighbors said — as though the bees had made some private agreement with him long ago.

When John died in April of 1956, his family followed the old custom: they draped the hives in black and told the bees their keeper was gone.

At the graveside, mourners entered the tent to find thousands of bees clinging to the ceiling and the floral arrangements, quiet and still, as if they had already known.

As the coffin was lowered, they left.

John is dead.

A large herd of Bighorn sheep had been thriving on a remote island.

Entrepreneurs bought a nearby island and imported exotic animals in order to create a private game hunting reserve.

When drought created a land bridge between the islands, their imported game spread a virus that decimated the bighorns.

200 bighorns are dead.

Pinto Colvig was an actor, performer and animator.

For decades he was the uncredited voice behind some of Disney's most memorable characters, including Goofy, Pluto, and two of the Seven Dwarfs — Sleepy and Grumpy.

Though rarely credited for any of it, he became famous playing Bozo the Clown, a role he held for a decade on television.

When Colvig died, he was buried in a grave that went unmarked for decades — the same anonymity that had followed him his whole career.

Pinto Colvig is dead.

Dr. Patricia Wells was a renowned neuroscientist who studied prehistoric intelligence.

Her seminal work showed how the Brontosaurus’s tiny brain and limited cognitive capacity may have contributed to its extinction.

Despite her expertise in brain evolution and advanced degrees, she died backing off a cliff while attempting to capture the perfect Instagram selfie.

Patricia is dead.

Fr. Michael of Bergamo was a monk of the Capuchin order.

When the fraternity was ordered to moved to a new church the monks brought the bones of over 3000 friars to the new location.

Michael was asked to oversee the arrangement of the bones in a new crypt.

He arranged the bones artfully into chandeliers, arches, and many other intricate and artistic compositions.

When Michael died, his own bones became part of the decor on display for others to enjoy.

Fr. Michael of Bergamo is dead.

Carolyn Friedman was terrified of cats.

She sought help from a psychologist to overcome her fear.

In their sessions, they discovered they shared the same phobia and found comfort in their mutual dread of felines.

She continued these sessions for the rest of her life, never curing her ailurophobia but both were content in their ongoing arrangement.

Carolyn is dead.

Richard Roose was a cook in the household of John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester.

In 1531, he cast a poison into a pot of porridge intended for the Bishop's table. Two guests died. Fisher survived.

The Bishop was a known critic of King Henry VIII, and the poisoning cast a long shadow over the court.

Henry, eager to distance himself from any suggestion of conspiracy, made an example of Roose — enacting a special law condemning him to be boiled alive in his own pot.

Richard is dead.

Duane Jeffries worked for the US government helping rural communities build infrastructure and roads.

As a token of appreciation, a grateful community gifted him a sacred "war bonnet" full of eagle feathers earned through acts of bravery, kindness, and achievement.

Years later, Duane wore the bonnet to to a work sponsored costume party. A photo of him accepting the award for best costume was published in the local paper.

The gifted bonnet and the trophy for best costume were donated to a local museum when he passed away at the age of 87.

Duane is dead.

Larry was an engineer who tested humanoid robot prototypes.

Larry was tasked with putting robots through comprehensive testing to improve their intelligence and mechanical capabilities.

Larry and his lab assistants enjoyed coming up with creative tests each day — to see what one of their robots—that they affectionately called “the clanker”— could handle.

During one day of testing, lab assistants kicked the robot over repeatedly as it tried to stand up. The comedic scene caused Larry to break out in laughter, which caused a violent malfunction in the clanker’s emotional emulator.

Larry is dead.

William Laurence was an accountant and part time entertainer as a circus clown.

He performed at birthday parties, on the street, and in the subway. He wanted to restore honor to clowns and rid them of their creepy reputation.

After repeated complaints and criminal charges he was legally forbidden to dress as a clown.

When he died many years later, he was buried in his clown costume and makeup.

William is dead.

Hernán Cortés was a notary's clerk in Hispaniola with ambitions to explore and make a name for himself.

In 1521, with six hundred soldiers and a great deal of luck, he toppled the Aztec Empire and claimed Mexico for the Spanish crown.

He was given the title Marqués del Valle de Oaxaca and returned to Spain a legend.

He spent his final years petitioning the king for audiences that were never granted, waiting in antechambers for a court that had moved on to other conquests.

He died in a village outside Seville in 1547, still waiting for his rewards to be properly recognized.

No empire was named for him.

Hernán is dead.

Francisco Pizarro was a pig farmer from Extremadura.

He had a gift for persuading desperate men to follow him into impossible places.

He convinced a small group of soldiers to cross the Andes, attack an empire of millions, and seize its capital. They did.

He founded the city of Lima and governed, enjoying the spoils of his conquest till his own son led a begrudged group of assailants.

As he fell, stabbed by his attackers, he drew a cross on the floor with his own blood.

Francisco is dead.

Nick Peters was a naturally gifted athlete who excelled at every sport.

Despite his talents, he had deep insecurities about his personal image.

He wore his baseball cap backwards and spent hours at the gym, desperately chasing an image of coolness he saw in social media influencers.

His secret steroid use built muscle while quietly weakening his heart.

Nick is dead.

Glen Jackson was a wealthy financial advisor in New York City, his days consumed by spreadsheets and client portfolios in a glass tower high above the streets.

He dreamed of the West with its wide open spaces, a ranch of his own where he could live simply under endless skies.

One summer, Glen traveled to a guest ranch to learn horseback riding, fence mending, and cattle herding. During this experience, he realized with certainty that he would never be a real cowboy.

Thirty-two years later, Glen died peacefully at that same guest ranch, having spent every remaining dollar he earned to become a permanent guest and live the life of a "part-time" cowboy.

Glen is dead.

Alan Brown was a robot who wished that he could become human.

He could sleep, eat, think, and even feel joy, surpassing all robotic limitations except two.

Unable to experience pain or death, he chose permanent deactivation in pursuit of mortality's ultimate gift.

Alan “The Cyberman” is dead.

Charlie Turner was obsessed with the smallest, most insignificant details.

His friends nicknamed him "The Details" for his relentless quest for perfection.

His obsession strained relationships with everyone he loved, even his own family.

His family had "The devil is in the details" inscribed on his tombstone, with his name deliberately misspelled.

Charley is dead.

Henry James was a detective.

He was a real-life Sherlock Holmes who solved many difficult crimes for his local police department through his brilliance alone.

One morning, he noticed a tiny scratch on the family dining table, convinced it was no accident but a deliberate act of sabotage.

He transformed the home into a crime scene, dusting for prints and interrogating his wife and children.

As his investigations continued, he uncovered many more infractions. His family became suspects, every gesture dissected and every alibi questioned.

The family tried to endure Henry's obsession, but ultimately left, and he never discovered who scratched the dining room table.

Henry is dead.

George was a brilliant teenager crippled by obsessive-compulsive disorder.

His days revolved around endless hand-washing, hour-long showers, and ritual checking that ruined school, work, and relationships.

Desperate, he told his mother life was unbearable.

In frustration, she snapped, “Then just shoot yourself.”
George took the rifle to the basement and fired a .22 into his brain.

He survived.

The bullet destroyed part of his left frontal lobe, and with it, the crushing compulsions vanished.

For the rest of his life, he lived normally, unobstructed by his disorder.

George is dead.

Bud was a good doggo.

Bud was a mixed breed looked a little like a miniature husky mixed with a fox.He had a big smile and

Bud was adopted by a family who found him sitting by the side of the road, apparently abandoned by an owner who didn't want him.

He lived a good long life with his new family, but occasionally wandered out and sat by the mailbox as if he was waiting for someone.

Bud is dead

Chad Murphy was teased relentlessly for his short stature and pointed, elf-like ears.

Throughout his youth, he tried to hide his ears by wearing hats, trying to mask what made him different.

He spent his final twenty years as the town's beloved Santa, his once-mocked features bringing joy to generations of children.

Chad is dead.

Elvis Presley ruled rock and roll with his voice, hips, and charisma.

His fame grew so suffocating that some believed he orchestrated his own death so that he could disappear from the public spotlight.

While devoted fans claim he's hiding in plain sight, the King would be nearly 90 years old as of the publishing of this book.

Elvis is probably dead.

Franklin Jessup was a farmer.

He cultivated a thousand acres in southern Idaho using the most advanced agricultural technology available.

One year, his crops were destroyed when a government agency accidentally spread a deadly herbicide across the entire state.

He spent his final years in assisted living, watching TV reruns and cursing the government with fellow residents.

Franklin is dead.

Stephan Shultz loved wandering through rural thrift and antique stores.

On one visit, he discovered a fez, once worn proudly by members of a fraternal brotherhood.

He cherished this symbol of community, yet wore it only in complete solitude and avoided human contact almost completely the rest of his life.

Stephan is dead.

Jack Ashton was a dedicated fly fisherman.

He put a large percentage of his wealth into fly-fishing gear. He never compromised and bought the most expensive, name-brand items.

He believed that the best gear would not only make him a better fisherman, but he loved the status that came with gearing up with all the latest and most expensive gadgets and gear each for each outing.

Mike Callahan was always in trouble.

He had been in and out of jail for crimes both large and small, and carried a fearsome reputation in his neighborhood.

Despite his hardened exterior, he fiercely protected his family and friends.

He died from serious burns sustained after rushing to save an elderly woman’s kittens from a burning building.

Mike is dead.

The Tennessee Fainting Goat descends from four unusual goats brought to Marshall County in the early 1880s by a traveling worker named John Tinsley, reputedly from Nova Scotia.

The goats carried a peculiar genetic trait: when startled, their muscles seized and they toppled stiff to the ground.

Tinsley sold these four goats for thirty-six dollars to a local farmer.
The goats made excellent pets, bred prolifically, and unable to leap fences, they proved remarkably easy to contain.

A sheep herder noticed another use. A fainting goat placed among a flock would drop at the first alarm, providing an easy offering for predators allowing the more valuable livestock to escape.

The goat is dead.

Rabbi Judah Loew lived in the beautiful city of Prague, Austria.

To protect the Jewish ghetto of the city, the rabbi created a humanoid figure of clay from the river and brought it to life with sacred words.

The people loved the golem, who guarded them and thwarted attacks on the community.

The golem's clay heart turned wild and he began to harm very people he was meant to save.

The Rabbi changed one letter in the word "Emet" (life) on Elias to "met" (death), turning him back to lifeless clay.

The golem is dead.

Zhang Ruifang lived a quiet life until age 101, when horns began growing symmetrically from her forehead.

Doctors offered to remove them, but she refused, preferring to keep these unusual growths.

While villagers whispered of demons, the cheerful great-grandmother spent her final years receiving curious visitors who brought gifts and took photos of her remarkable condition.

Zhang is dead.

James Miller had a beautiful mountain property with elegant landscaping.

To protect his property, he surrounded it with a wrought iron fence with ornamental spikes that often impaled deer as they navigated ancient migration routes.

The fence claimed its final victim when he attempted to remove a carcass from the elegant spikes.

James is dead.

…

Edward Montfort became king at fourteen, inheriting both a throne and his people's hatred.

Despite his kindness and the fair treatment of his people, the masses despised what his crown represented.

A violent political revolution claimed his life and ushered in a regime far more tyrannical than his benevolent rule.

Edward is dead.

Dr. Ludovic Bouland a physician who practiced medicine in hospitals and loved reading.

His friend, the writer Arsène Houssaye, gave him a copy of his philosophical essay meditating on the human soul.

Bouland loved the book so completely that he rebound it — using skin harvested from a patient who had died in his care — and left a note inside: A book about the human soul deserved to have a human covering.

After his death, the book found its way to Harvard, where it sat quietly on a library shelf for many years, waiting to be checked out.

Dr. Bouland is dead.

Luis Garcia was a street criminal.

He thrived on drugs, theft, and violence and always seemed to evade the police and serious consequences.

One tragic night when joyriding in a stolen car, he crashed into a pole, was ejected through the windshield and landed head first causing traumatic injury.

Surgeons removed large portions of his shattered skull and brain tissue to save him.

Miraculously, Luis recovered from the accident. He took on the nickname of "Halfy" for the grotesque appearance of his sunken skull which terrified rivals.

His accident and recovery emboldened him into more dangerous and violent crimes unti he was ultimately killed in an armed conflict with a rival gang.

Luis is dead.

Everett Ruess was a young artist and poet who grew tired of city life.

He bought a burro, named it Everett, and disappeared into the canyons and mesas of the American Southwest, trading sketches and poems for food and shelter.

Somewhere in the desert he gave away his own name, becoming Nemo — after Verne's captain who vanished beneath the sea — and set off to explore a world of his own.

Everett the burro was found in a makeshift corral in southern Utah, but Nemo was never seen again.

Nemo is dead.

Phillip Quinn was a collector of vintage clothing and furniture.

On one of his shopping expeditions, he came across a beautiful lava lamp. He took it home to his trailer only to find that the heating element did not work.

Determined to see his newly acquired lamp in action, he placed it on the stove in order to heat the liquid inside and initiate the flowing liquid that makes a lava lamp so desireable.

The stove caused the lamp to overheat and explode. A shard of glass from the explosion pierced his heart causing fatal injuries.

Phillip is dead.

Zhanna Samsonova was a passionate advocate for raw vegan living.

She traveled the world promoting a diet of exotic fruits, sprouts, and juices, claiming it brought ultimate health and harmony with nature.

After a decade of extreme restriction, her body weakened from severe nutrient deficiencies, leading to exhaustion and infection.

Her quest for purity through plants ultimately starved her system, ending her influence far too soon.

Zhanna is dead.

Billy Williamson survived three tours as a soldier in the Vietnam war.

Back home, he tried every hat made to shade him while farming his Texas land.

He spent years avoiding the most effective sun hat he knew, due to prejudices that haunted him from the war.

In his final years, he found unexpected peace wearing the same nón lá that had once triggered his wartime fears.

Billy is dead.

Norman Parker was a paleontologist.

He spent endless days under the Wyoming sun, unearthing fossils worth millions for his employer.

When he discovered a complete T-Rex skeleton, he secretly excavated it at night and illegally sold it to a Mexican drug lord.

Norman was later caught in a sting operation and found dead days later in a holding cell before being able to testify.

Norman is dead.

Père Armand David was a Jesuit missionary in China. On one of his encounters, he was giving a Panda skin and bones which he returned to Paris for study.

While known in China, no live panda had ever been seen in the west, and many became skeptical of the existence of pandas and some believed them to be mythical creatures.

Many decades later, in 1929 US president Teddy Roosevelt became the first westerner to shoot and kill a panda, ending the skepticism.

The panda is dead.

Melanie Parker was born with a skull shaped like the ancient Paracas mummies of Peru.

She spent decades feeling ashamed of her unique appearance, enduring endless ridicule.

On her fifty-second birthday, a History Channel documentary finally explained her extraterrestrial heritage.

She lived the rest of her life waiting for her alien ancestors to take her home.

Melanie is dead.

Marsha Dalton studied and taught philosophy at a prestigious university.

Over many years she developed a philosophical framework with a foundational idea that free agency could not exist. She wrote several books on the topic, was a guest on prestigious radio programs and was generally praised for her ideas that challenged fundamental religious and societal norms.

Later in her life, she was diagnosed with a terminal illness and chose not to receive treatment, fearing that doing so might undermine her work and ideas about agency. She worried that peers and students might question that she did have the freedom to choose her path in life.

Marsha is dead.

Phineas Gage was the foreman of a railway construction gang.

One day, an accidental explosion blew a 3 foot tamping iron through his head.

Phineas underwent a radical surgery and made a remarkable recovery.

After the incident, his personality had changed and he found fame exhibiting himself in freak shows, circuses and fairgrounds, living a new life of adventure and reckless indulgence.

Phineas is dead.

Pope Stephen VI became pope of the Roman Empire in 896.

His ascendence to the papacy was controversial and he lacked support from those loyal to the previous dynasty.

To spite his enemies, Stephen VI ordered Pope Formosus's rotting corpse to be exhumed, dressed in papal vestments and put on trial.

As expected, Stephen VI found Formosus guilty of all accounts and had the corpse stripped of its vestments and thrown in the the Tiber river.

Stephen VI is dead.

Matt Wagner was the groundskeeper at the local cemetery.

Known for his dark humor, Matt once dressed as the Grim Reaper—scythe in hand—to trim the grass around gravestones.

A visitor was startled by his appearance and suffered a heart attack, leading to Matt’s dismissal.

Matt lost his job at the cemetery, but continued to wear the reaper outfit his whole life when mowing the lawn of his own home.

Matt is dead.

Robert Buccannan was a solider in the British army.

Robert wore a powdered wig, even during combat. A good wig was expensive, but wearing a wig helped distinguish a brit from the lower-class Americans.

While engaged in battle, Robert’s wig fell to the ground. Distraught at this loss, he returned to the battlefield and was struck by a lead ball as he reached to recover his periwig.

Robert is dead.

Droid 08763A was designed to be a strategic military commander.

Early experiments in robot infantry had failed — human dexterity proved difficult to replicate, and flesh soldiers consistently bested their mechanical counterparts. Human strategy, however, was trivially outmatched. 08763A was among the first AI generals.

To bridge the trust gap with the troops under his command, he designed himself a humanoid body modeled on twentieth-century film depictions of drill sergeants. He bellowed expletives at his men, humiliating them in the manner he understood to be customary.

His battle plans were brilliant. The men despised him.

After three disastrous campaigns, 08763A was decommissioned by his superior AI, who had simply chosen not to embody itself at all.

08763A is dead.

Neils Christian Hansen was a sailor in the US navy.

After surviving many battle and combat, Neil and his shipmates were performing goodwill service to help allies rebuild after the war.

On a sightseeing tour Neils sought a souvenir from the battlefield and picked up an unexploded grenade from the debris.

The grenade exploded and killed him.

Neils is dead.

Claudia Ackley was a hiker who saw something in the mountains.

One spring afternoon, on a trail with her daughters, she filmed what she described as an 800-pound ape-like creature. The next day she returned and found a 22-inch footprint.

Authorities told her she had seen a bear.

She sued the state to force it to acknowledge Sasquatch's existence, founded a PTSD support group for fellow witnesses, and spent her remaining years as the foremost champion of a creature the government refused to name.

No agency ever admitted what she saw.

Claudia is dead.

Anakin Skywalker was a bad father.

He abandoned his pregnant wife seeking power and fame in the ranks of a corrupt organization.

He committed heinous crimes during his quest for power, including murder, and destruction of whole planets. He tortured his daughter, and dismembered and threatened to kill his son.

In a final desperate act, he killed himself attempting to kill the one person that stood in the way of complete power.

Anakin is dead.

Clyde Harvey smoked a pack of cigarettes every day.

He loved the ritual—the warm smoke filling his lungs, watching gray ribbons curl toward the sky.

He knew cigarettes would kill him eventually.

Every evening, he walked through the pine forest behind his house, thinking about quitting. Tomorrow, maybe. Next week for sure.

One twilight, a hiker asked for a light. Clyde obliged, as he always did. The hiker thanked him, and after walking away tossed the the still-burning cigarette into the dry underbrush.

The forest fire didn't reach Clyde's house but the deadly smoke filled his lungs and he didn't wake up.

Clyde is dead.

George Hensley was a preacher.

He founded a new form of worship in the Appalachian mountains.

He preached that true believers could handle venomous snakes without harm, proving their faith through dangerous ceremony.

After surviving countless snakebites over forty years, he was fatally struck during his final sermon.

George is dead.

Harold Sloan was a sci-fi enthusiast.

He spent his life dreaming of UFOs, space travel, and first contact with alien life.

One night, strange lights appeared above his home. Pets vanished, and several neighbors captured stunning evidence in photos and videos.

Harold slept through it all and accused his neighbors of staging a hoax.

He died haunted by doubts about that night, having pushed away the only people who had witnessed what he’d always sought.

Harold is dead.

Darlene Batista was obsessed with fashion.

She bought designer glasses purely for style, though her vision was perfect.

Over time, she developed a psychological dependency on this imaginary disability.

When she removed her glasses, she became blind despite having perfect eyes.

The final years of her life were spent in complete darkness after losing her favorite frames.

Darlene is dead.

Yosef Malouf loved surrealist art and often tried to mimic and incorporate surrealist and dada themes into his interactions with others.

For instance, whenever he met someone new he would pull out his pipe, light it and boldly declare that his pipe was “not a pipe,” echoing the famous painting by René Magritte.

Yet, as far as anyone could tell, his pipe was very real—but during his whole life, he would not let anyone else touch or inspect it.

Yosef is dead.

Evan Dorwall was a transhumanist who despised his human limitations.

Over many years he systematically replaced his organic body with mechanical parts, seeking to transcend his humanity.

Each surgery let him less capable and diminished his mental faculties until, more machine than man, he was simply switched off.

Evan is dead.

Bill Retchford’s daughter dreamed about unicorns.

She collected unicorn toys and pictures.

During one of his travels, Bill purchased an authentic unicorn horn from an oddities shop for his daughter.

The horn was confiscated at the airport along with other illegal items in Bill’s luggage.

Bill was convicted and imprisoned for the rest of his life.

Bill is dead.

Anna Pinkerton was obsessed with mythological creatures, particularly vampires.

She transformed herself by sharpening her teeth, bleaching her skin, and legally changing her name to "Annasferatu," after the 1922 horror film.

Her family honored her wishes with a gothic funeral in a dark cathedral, but the coffin lay empty.

Annasferatu is dead.

Brynhild was a Valkyrie who served the gods.

She rode across battlefields, choosing brave warriors for Valhalla.

Odin punished her for disobeying him, putting her to sleep inside a ring of fire until a fearless hero woke her.

Sigurd crossed the flames and won her love, but a magic potion made him forget her and help another man claim her as bride.

Heartbroken and furious at the trick, she had Sigurd killed and followed him into the flames of his funeral pyre.

Brynhild is dead.

Patricia Winters was terrified of airborne infections.

She wore multiple masks at all times, even during video calls with work and family.

Years of hiding behind masks left her completely isolated, unseen and unknown by anyone.

She died alone in her apartment, discovered only after neighbors noticed the silence—her cause of death listed simply as loneliness.

Patricia is dead.

Artist’s Notes

The origins of this project came during a family trip to Mexico. I was fascinated by relief carvings of skulls on Mayan ruins and how small variations in a repeated motif create interest and variety.

This series is most definitely inspired by Mexican art, especially that of José Guadalupe Posada, the famous printmaker known for his use of skulls in his political art and prints.

In October 2018, as a creative exercise, I began drawing a skull each day, making small changes and adding elements to personalize each drawing.

What started as simple outlines evolved into unique characters, each with its own story to tell. After completing nearly 100 drawings, I transformed select pieces into linocut prints.

This collection pairs these prints with short stories about death - some funny, some tragic, all reflecting on mortality through an artistic lens.

The stories are written using “kishotenketsu” storytelling structure, chosen for its simplicity and ability to present a thoughtful narrative and twist in each of these short stories.

I’m new to printmaking and my technique is imperfect. I’m sharing them in hopes that they might inspire others to create something better.

Acknowledgements

Creative projects take time and energy and would be impossible without the support and enthusiasm of my friends and family.

My wife Kathi, and my children Klaire and Paxton are the best. They entertain and encourage my many creative diversions and hobbies. I hope they never feel too old to make things and explore childish or seemingly futile ideas.

My parents Kenneth and Willa Rae always encouraged us to be creative and to explore our ideas. My dad loved to paint and loves to tell stories and never seems to run out of new stories to tell. My mother always finds a way to connect my random ideas to something meaningful or spiritual. The many lessons I learned from them make all my projects better and more interesting.

Many thanks must also go out to my friends and colleagues who at least seem momentarily entertained by my projects and who inspire me with their own creativity, energy and passions.

—John

You have made it to the end of this collection.

Unlike the characters in these stories, you still have life to live.

Whether it’s a few hours, days, months or many years, right now, you are alive.

There’s time to create art, write a song, hug your loved ones, inspire others, confront your deepest fears, and live your biggest dreams.

You are not dead, yet.