Recently someone asked me to clarify for them the meaning behind the sun and olive branch featured on the cover of Ishmael. What do you (all of you) think it means?

Here’s the best I could do: “I’m not entirely sure what the olive branch and sun are supposed to symbolize. My best guess is that they represent the most basic elements that nourish life on Earth. The sun, through photosynthesis, nourishes plants. Plants—primary producers—in turn, nourish the entire community of life from insects to humans.

I think the point is that all living things depend on one another. That is what makes the Community of Life a COMMUNITY. Everyone’s (and everthing’s) fate is intertwined.”