Sixty years ago, Monsieur Losserand, my schoolmaster in the one-room, eight-class, elementary boys-only school, at my hometown of Montriond, France, had enough faith in my talents to enroll me in a National contest sponsored by the national soap suppliers association.

I was good at drawing and he asked me to put together the illustrated story of a little boy, that used to be very dirty and, through a series of transformative events, discovered the benefits of personal hygiene.

From what I can remember, I wasn't motivated to do the assignment, got dragged into it, could never see the end of it, but was delighted when it finally was over and my entry sent out.

I never, for a minute, worried one bit about the outcome (to be continued...)