The child atheist grew up in Berkeley, California, without the benefit of the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, or Closet Monster. Who could believe Santa Claus would arrive without snow, anyway? At an early age, his parents explained what an illusion was, and showed him how to turn his index fingers into sausage.
In his notebooks, he began to draw staircases that ran both ways, vases that turned into faces, and impossible three legged chairs. For his high school art class, his self-portrait could be turned upside down to look like a woman walking a dog.
He grew up a painter, creating illusions so real they made others weep.