This week's guest lecturer, John Gall is creative director of Abrams publishing house, a prolific book jacket designer and collage illustrator. "I was born to blue-collar parents in suburban New Jersey," he told The Great Discontent. "I remember my dad drawing a little and showing me how to do shading. My mother, who claims that she’s the least artistic person on earth, always did little craft projects. Once when I was a kid, I saw her knitting something and asked if I could try it. She said, “Okay, but you’ve got to put it away before your father gets home.” (laughing) I don’t remember what I was making, but it was fun to make something out of almost nothing."