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Have been a life long fan. I was there when you first became syndicated & was blown away with your ability way back then. Have always been an artsy type guy & consider you to be one of the best at what you do. Your web site is fantastic!!

Jim F, Michigan

I was very interested in your account of your visit to the ruins, and am grateful for the photos you posted. They're very clear, and it looks like you had great weather.

I am, however, puzzled by what "they said", regarding polygamy being one of the reasons for the fall of the Aztecs. I hadn't heard or read about this before, and I wonder who "they" were, and where did they get their information?

When Hernan Cortes arrived, the Aztecs were either at their peak, or just past their peak, and were being undermined by a number of causes, not the least being that they were annoying their neighbors by their incessant demands for humans for daily sacrifice and feasts. (One event demanded 20,000 victims, and cannibalism was considered a privilege of the upper-castes). These neighbors were not only happy to see strangers with cannons and guns, but made sure to provide Cortes with his own translator and point him and his army in the direction of the city (and may have told them where and when to enter), and later, back him up with up to 200,000 warriors.

Other causes that weakened the Aztecs were the diseases that had been introduced in 1492, and which were spreading across the land; a devastating earthquake; and later, bad weather and crop failure, followed by famine. That a comet and an eclipse also were seen as dreadful omens of the end of their civilization may have dispirited the population even more.

Polygamy among the nobility, on the other hand, had been anciently used by civilizations as far apart as Egypt and Korea. The children were educated and trained. The sons became generals, diplomats, scribes, physicians, artists, engineers and overseers. The daughters were given to become wives to other members of royalty, particularly to other countries' nobility. They were, on one hand, hostages to assure treaties would be kept, and on the other, they were spies for their home countries. In the middle, they were a source of information about their home countries. Biologically, the "new blood" or new DNA they brough to the court avoided the perils of in-breeding.

To have only one wife would have severely restricted the ability of the court to progress. To have a daughter of a king become a concubine was an insult to her home court - it made the country look less of an equal, and more like a tributary.

Concubinage was common, but the children from such were generally trained as tradesmen or to situations where they would assist the children of the "higher birth". Daughters of such were given as wives to lesser nobility or sent off as concubines to other courts.

Knowing human nature, I would expect the same of the civilizations of the Americas.

These nuggets of information I've gleaned from countless National Geographic magazine articles, reports I had to write in school, and other sources, such as Google and Public Television. I hope that you found reading them worth your while.

Barb, Bend, OR

I am so much enjoying the old strips. I didn't' read them all that much back then. I was single and having fun...LOL But I am loving them now. Lizzie is a hoot. Most of them don't lose their appeal. Some a bit dated but they are still funny.

Thanks for all the laughs and a few tearing up moments over the years. I do miss new strips so much...but content that the family lives on in the papers and online. Can't wait for the Farley stuffed dog to come out so I can get it for my Granddaughter.

Patricia B, MA