Sharing My Story

Within the realm of Christian psychology there are various schools
of thought. Some schools are very critical of others claiming that
they have adopted too much of secular psychology to the detriment
of Biblical principles. I admit that that is something I that I did not
examine or study with any kind of thoroughtness. Dr Narramore was
a sound Christian man and the organization had a good doctrinal
statement and was sensitive to overt aberrant teaching. NCF offered
a referral service of Christian counselors across the country. They
were very sensitive that people be directed to good, sound Christian
counselors and would drop any counselor who was not adhering to
solid Christian doctrine as well as compatible psychological principles.

The people I worked with closest with at Narramore were those
associated with the publications. Roy Mathison was NCF's chief
designer/artist who started with Dr. Narramore in the late 1960s.
His desire to semi-retire in 1982 was the reason I was able to
come in. Roy turned 65 that year and was wanting "to back off"
from full time work. After I came Roy cut his time to four days
a week and within a year it was three days a week. By perhaps
1990 he was coming in two days a week and by the move from
the Rosemead campus in June 1996 he was coming in one day.
After 14 years Roy fully retired from NCF at age 80 in 1996.
Roy was a joy to work with. He did article illustrations and a
monthly cartoon for the magazine. Roy's background was varied.
Roy and his wife Phyllis were from Algona, Iowa. During the 1940s
he produced single panel cartoons and comic strips for a small
midwestern newspaper syndicate. He and Phyllis and their
growing family moved to Southern California. He worked with
the calendar publisher, Brown & Bigelow. He later worked with
Child Evangelism Fellowship as an artist and was involved in
designing one of their popular evangelistic tools of the period.
When Child Evangelism decided to move their headquarters
outside California Roy not wanting to move was able to get a
position with Dr. Narramore. Roy and Phyllis live in Whittier,
California (near Rosemead) and I was a welcomed guest in their
home on numerous occasions. Since Roy and I shared an interest
in cartooning we enjoyed many pleasant conversations
about the art form.

I worked closely with Mrs Ruth Narramore, wife of Dr. Clyde
Narramore. Mrs Narramore had taken over the editorship of
the organization's magazine, Psychology for Living, some time
before I arrived. Mrs Narramore, a highly intelligent and
talented woman, was a very gifted musician. My procedure in
working with Mrs Narramore was similar to the process at Campus
Crusade. I would come up with illustration ideas for the articles
in the magazine and then I'd present them to her for her evaluation
and approval before going ahead with the layout production.