Everyone knows the dolls and the sayings of Love is… The sayings are sometimes true, sometimes corny and sometimes strange. Where do they actually come from and when did they originate? Who came up with these funny cartoon figures and where did she get her inspiration from? A story about love, which started in 1970 with the romantic film ,Love Story,.
History
In 1970, New Zealander Kim Grove saw the film Love Story. This film and her intense crush on her later husband Roberto inspired her to create her most famous cartoon drawing: Love is… being able to say you’re sorry. Her boyfriend would like to see her drawings published. She herself sees no point in it, she finds the drawings too personal and too corny. To her surprise, Roberto is successful in his attempts to sell the drawings. On May 1, 1970, the Los Angeles Times newspaper published the first drawing. Kim has immediate success. She receives fan mail from loving couples and prisoners. Psychologists use her drawings during sessions for marital problems. Soon the production of a true Love is… collection begins, consisting of watches, duvet covers, T-shirts, underwear, nightwear, watches, mugs, greeting cards, stationery, agendas, etc.
Kim Casali Grove
Marilyn Judith Grove was born on September 9, 1941 in Auckland. At the age of nineteen she left New Zealand to travel the world. She traveled through Australia, Europe and the United States and supported herself with various jobs, such as receptionist and waitress. During ski lessons in Los Angelos she meets the Italian Roberto Alfredo Vincenzo Casali. She immediately falls madly in love with him and sends him homemade Love is… cartoons to show him her love. Kim’s father had died young and when Roberto asked her to be his wife, she made one condition. He shouldn’t die for her. They married in 1971 in New Zealand in the same church where Kim’s parents got married. They had no financial worries because in the early 1970s the Love is cartoons were unprecedentedly popular and the couple earned more than four million a year. In 1972 they moved to Great Britain.
Child from frozen sperm cells
In 1974 their lives were enriched with the birth of twins. The boys Stefano and Dario. The couple is overjoyed and wants more children soon. Then disaster strikes. In 1975, Roberto was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Because he wants to have children, his sperm cells are frozen and Roberto undergoes surgery. Unfortunately, the cancer had already spread and Roberto died in 1976, only 31 years old. Kim is inconsolable and decides to use the only thing she has left of him, his sperm cells, to bring at least part of him back to life. Milo Roberto Andrea was born on July 10, 1977. Sixteen months after his father’s death. The birth receives a lot of attention in the press and Kim tells the journalists that she is happy with this memory of her wonderful husband. There will never be another man in her life again. In the mid-1980s, Kim moved to Australia with her sons, where she focused on breeding Arabian horses. In 1990 she moved back to Great Britain (Leatherhead). Seven years later she died at the age of 55 from bone and liver cancer.
Love is…
Some of the most famous love is sayings are:
- Love is… never asking for more than you are willing to give.
- Love is… bringing out the best in each other.
- Love is…seeing him in your future too.
- Love has no limits.
- Love is…marrying your best buddy.
- Love is… sharing everything together.
After her death, the Love is cartoons were continued by her son Stefano. He manages the business, but after Kim’s death the drawing is done by Bill Asprey, a British cartoonist. my view on