Q: Are you freaked out by this sign? I mean it's right on the front of Hugo House.
Frances: Yeah, I guess so. But it's nothing like the last time I saw Hugo House on one of these signs.
Q: This happened before?
Frances: A long time ago, back in the beginning of Hugo House. We were planning on being in the Pink Palace, that big house between 10th East and Federal Avenue. Here's that place:
Q: Wow, snazzy.
Frances: Yup, and we'd have a sweet writers' retreat there. We filed for permits and they put up one of those big signs. But some of our neighbors imagined a bunch of Jack Kerouacs puking in the bushes.
Q: So you moved?
Frances: Yes, into what was then New City Theater. I love John Kazanjian and Mary Ewald, the directors there, and we were so blessed that Linda Breneman and Linda and Ted Johnson stepped in and bought the building. They gave the whole concept of Hugo House a real anchor in the city.
Q: So, this sign is sad?
Frances: Only in the way memories drift off in front of us. What's great is imagining a shiny new home for Hugo House.