Mark was born in Chicago, Illinois - The latest incarnation of Mark Takiguchi was conceived beneath the bleachers under the University of Chicago's football stadium as part of a covert Government program "Artist X," in 1963.

He played at Indian Boundary Park - Mark was your typical oldest boy in the family; bossy, loud, and aggressive.

He did decoupage with his aunts - I remember that he would toddle around with a "Beatle haircut", huge brown eyes, and a large grin on his face. He would always, and I do mean always, be followed by "Gram," a gentle, white haired Japanese lady with glasses who would never let him out of her sight.

He made films with his friends - He was taught the family values of hard work, sacrifice, consideration, and honesty. Unfortunately, the family values didn't prepare him for this time in life.

He played in a band - He has no memory of his early contributions to the Allied effort in WWII, and was found frozen in a meat locker with no recollection of being Eleanor Roosevelt's lover.

He went to college in Champaign Urbana - He skipped attendance of classes during sophomore and junior years and maintained a 4.8 average. Mark rarely shoplifted.

He attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago - In the bicentennial year, Mark produced a mural of the founding fathers called “Boner ’76”. It showed Washington as a mighty warrior hacking and slashing with grim determination, ankle deep in the blood of his enemies, Patrick Henry biting the jugular of a British Lieutenant, and Jefferson brandishing a baby skewered on his pike. This is the type of scene/panel that would so pervade his later work provoking such comments as “I thought he was such a nice boy.”

He made big messy paintings that his mother hung in her house. - His art ranged from simple drawings of rabbit pellets to the attempted, sadly unfinished, epic: “Thirteen Thousand Shih Tzus.”

He made big messy installations that you could live in - Mark is a mythical, Earth clay creation of Rabbinical Illuminati, but this makes him no less real to me.

He met Martha Schlitt and was smitten -

Together they moved to San Francisco - He spent 11 years on Venus, where I lost touch with him, in the 80’s.

Mark is a serious reader, viewer and listener - It's believed the Bay of Pigs was Mark's idea, as was the designated hitter (he takes credit for neither.) Mark becomes angry when exposed to gamma ray radiation, bad traffic, or infomercials, splitting his pants and turning his flesh grey, green or Mochachino taupe depending on his diet.

He has two beautiful children

Thanks to all who contributed to this exquisite bio.