DECEMBER 13, 2018 // 9
“The story is based on something that happened
to Jake as a child in the ’60s,” Lackaff said. “He
wanted it done so it could be something for his
grandkids.”
As a youngster, Jacob’s father forced him to spend
the day working at a traveling circus. Since he was a
small boy at the time, Jacob ended up working with
an elephant to help raise the tents.
“Probably not something they’d let kids do now,”
Lackaff said.
Jacob’s job was to crawl under the edge of a large
tent, and place a pole into a rivet. From there, the
elephant would raise the tent using a line attached to
a pole.
“Jake came up with the storyline and we worked
on putting it together,” Lackaff said.
Because of Jake
Though the job is the same, a few details were
changed: The main character is a young girl and the
setting was moved to the Great Plains during the
Depression, details Lackaff felt added poignancy to
the story.
“We made it about her realizing she wouldn’t have
any fun at the circus without her family and her strug-
gle to raise enough money to do that,” she said.
Because of differing schedules and the varied
pathways of life, the story took about five years for
the two to fully develop.
Eventually, Jacob gave the story to Lackaff to
write, though with plenty of instructions. As the illus-
trator, however, she had free rein to create whatever
pictures she wanted.
Lackaff is no stranger to creating images for
publication: She’s illustrated books for Nehalem
author Tricia Gates-Brown and written an illustrated
wildlife column for the Upper Left Edge. Her work
can be seen in many familiar commercial materials,
such as logos for Fort George’s Festival of the Dark
Arts and The Irish Table in Cannon Beach. She also
created a sign in Cannon Beach commemorating the
famous 1967 “Beach Bill” ushered into law by Gov.
Tom McCall.
“The best part of this book for me was I was
allowed to hand-letter it, something I love doing,” she
said. “It became a book I would never have been able
to produce on my own. Because of Jake, it turned out
exactly the way I wanted it to.”
COLIN MURPHEY PHOTOS
‘Sarah’s Circus’ is a children’s book by Sally Lackaff and Robert Jacob.
Years in the making
As the project gelled, Lackaff drew inspiration
from some of her favorite children’s books, including
Laura Ingalls-Wilder’s “Little House on the Prai-
rie” series. Lackaff said “Sarah’s Circus” is a little
more “wordy” than the typical children’s book, but
described it as a story she’d have wanted to read as a
child.
Released last spring, the hardcover book was
warmly received by the community and the creators.
Even though it was years in the making, Lackaff was
glad that Jacob had the chance to see the story come
to life.
“My husband keeps telling me that the reason
(Jacob) stayed alive was to see this finished,” she
said. “I don’t know if that’s true but I really love the
idea.”
“Sarah’s Circus” is available at Godfather Books,
RiverSea Gallery, and Cannery Pier Hotel; Time
Enough Books in Illwaco; Jupiter Books in Cannon
Beach.
Sally will be at Jupiter’s Books in Cannon Beach
for a book signing Saturday, Dec. 22.
To see what projects Sally Lackaff is working on
next, visit www.sallylackaff.com. CW
Sally
Lackaff
signs a
book for
a fan.