A Comedy Writer Looks Back on Her 1960s Childhood

An excerpt from “We Saw Scenery,” Merrill Markoe’s hilarious and poignant graphic memoir.

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In “We Saw Scenery” (Algonquin Books), her first-ever graphic memoir, four-time Emmy-winning comedy writer Merrill Markoe (“Late Night with David Letterman,” “Not Necessarily the News”) draws — literally — on her childhood diaries to tell the story of her preteen and teen years and how she came to realize that her secret power was her humor. The result is a familiar story of growing up in the 1960s, and a completely distinctive examination of the roots of a writer’s skewed and hilarious world view. Below are excerpts.

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