It’s Frank and Judah at Olde Fitzpatrick’s pub. Who’s Frank, you ask? Or Judah, for that matter? Well, Frank is clearly the bartender, Judah is a big George Jones fan, and that’s all I’m going to tell you for now.
Sometimes when I’m coming up with character and place names I pull them out of real life. Fitzpatrick was my grandmother’s maiden name and I always thought it was a cool Irish last name. I believe her brother’s nickname was “Fitz” which I also always thought was pretty much the coolest nickname. When I was growing up I am pretty sure my grandma had the Fitzpatrick family coat of arms framed on her wall, but I could be remembering that wrong. Thinking about it makes me a little bummed that my last name isn’t Fitzpatrick because I really think it’s such a strong last name.
Also the name “Judah” is another nod to my grandma, this time to her favorite saint, Saint Jude. She was so into St. Jude that she named her first child Judith and her second child’s middle name was also Jude. She always had a ton of St. Jude figures around the house; I specifically remember accidentally breaking one and gluing it back together and she never found out (I don’t think). I like St. Jude because he’s the patron saint of hopeless cases and lost causes and that’s pretty dramatic, don’t you think? He’s a good depressing saint for the Irish. I remember the few times my mom and I would visit the majestic St. Patrick’s Cathedral here in New York, she would always light a candle at the altar of St. Jude.
Meanwhile, Saint Elizabeth (my name) is the patron saint of pregnant women and was the mother of John the Baptist. BO-RING. Saint Jude is way cooler.
Judah’s name is pretty apt for his character. He’s kind of a hopeless case/lost cause as you will find soon enough! Oh, and Frank was the name of my husband’s grandfather. I like old people names.
Also Judah’s character design is basically like he’s a fuckup Marlon Brando mixed with a dash of Dean Haspiel and they had a baby with Pete Steinkopf (of my favorite band, the Bouncing Souls), as illustrated in this handy chart:
Full credit for the Pete photo goes to my friend , who takes wonderful photos of many things. that I cut the above image from. Is it not rad? Josh is really good at pictures. .
Also, this just in: young Marlon Brando was a STONE COLD FOX. Like, dang.
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Fables of Freewheel – $31 till the next page is posted!
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A) George Jones is awesome! I love him singing White Lightning! B) Fitzpatrick is a pretty awesome name. Too bad it’s so expensive to change your name. C) I used to go to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital when I was a kid. D) Stella! Stella! Yes he was!
My grandma was a regular donater to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital! We always got a lot of mail from them because she was always sending them money. Unquestionably one of her favorite charities, for obvious reasons. Also if you go back and look at old issues of My Brain Hurts, the private school Joey goes to is also called St. Jude’s. Fun fact!
Joey was super scary tall for a 13 year old. Or maybe Kate was just that darn short.
Both! Joey was based partially on one of my best friends in high school who was so tall he was able to buy us beer at age 13 without getting carded.