With this note, LeRoy Neiman relays an anecdote about his time at the Minneapolis School of Art, studying painting under Clement Haupers. In the story, Neiman tells of a peer being chastised in class for painting a car accident. According to Neiman, Haupers criticized the man not necessarily for the piece's violent content but for its narrative, illustrative quality, saying: “[the] subject [was] unsuitable/unfit for painting that it could be called… an illustration.” Disagreeing with Haupers concerning the work's validity and liking the painting, this was a watershed moment for Neiman. In addition, occurring before his fashion illustration days at SAIC or self-professed interest in “action” and written in preparation for the artist’s memoir, All Told, it is not unreasonable to assume passage's metaphorical character.