Something got my attention about StoryPeople and I knew there must be a complicated story here. There definitely is.
It started out as StoryPeople by Brian Andreas. He and his wife, Ellen Rockne created the business in the 1990s. A promotional approach for his art is a free email subscription to the story of the day - a short story/poem (50 to 100 words) with a beautifully coloured and creatively drawn image. Always heartfelt and caring in the world based on a sense of "magic in everything". This was a tremendously successful business - books, art works, apparel, sculptures, ornaments and so on. They were represented in over 200 galleries in the US, with more in the UK. Andreas had been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for his books. There's a lot of success here.
But go to the StoryPeople link and it isn't Brian Andreas anymore. It is now run by his former wife and sons. It is known as "The Brothers Andreas, Gabriel and Matthew, the newest generation of StoryPeople."
"Raised by unconventional parents, they are well-suited for making things out of words and music and movement and color. They share a tendency to vacillate between existential despair and a wild, lilting hope that everything is going to turn out okay. Gabe makes our new stories, and Matthew creates the artwork. Who knew when they were little guys that they would end up being such seamless collaborators?"
So what happened? Acrimonious divorce that took 9 years to complete. There was a lot of money at stake. Assets and investments were secretly held by Andreas and not disclosed. Huge tax liabilities in the millions were not paid over a number of years.More legal activities took place and eventually the assets/rights of StoryPeople became Ellen Rockne's and not Kai Skye's.
That explains how at one point, two emails a day started coming - one from StoryPeople and the other from Kai Skye now known as FlyingEdna, inviting me to hop on over there now. Andreas had changed his name from Brian Andreas (he refers to this as his pen name) to Kai Skye and gained a new life partner, Wendy Saver, now known as Fia Skye.
I remember that Kai Skye denounced the divorce settlement in his story of the day emails. This was a few years ago. Fellow artists have defended him and decried the loss of intellectual property rights. His art purchasers and appreciators have publicly supported him as well.
But there is this quiet link on the StoryPeople website HERE. It has the full text of the divorce decision at Appeals Court and the text of Brian Andreas lawsuit against his sons over a trust set up for them. Why would they want this to be known? It describes Brian Andreas diverting funds, his activities concealing assets and attempts to secretly undermine StoryPeople. The reading of the judgement is fascinating and contains a lot of information about Brian Andreas/Kai Skye's personality and behaviour.
So there is our complicated story. Here is one of Kai Skye's own poems:
“Brian Andreas Promise #1: Promises to Myself #1: I will tell the truth unless I get confused & I think I could get in real trouble if someone found out, in which case, I will lie as convincingly as possible for as long as I feel the need.” ― Brian Andreas
A Christmas story today for our picture. It could be one of Skye's poems.
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