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Ian Kane Chuck Close Charles Thomas Close was born in Monroe, Wisconsin in 1940. As a child he was very big and clumsy and not into playing sports. On top of this he was also dyslexic, so everyone considered him dumb and lazy. To add to his difficulties his father, a sheet metal worker, plumber, and on-the-side inventor, was always very ill and would move the family around in order so he could have a job with health benefits. Close always showed an interest in art and drawing, and at the age of four made the decision he wanted to be an artist. His father made him an easel for his birthday and got him a set of oil paints from Sears. Close also began doing magic and puppet shows in an effort to have the other kids accept him. However at the age of eleven Close’s life took a turn for the worst. His father died, his mother (a trained pianist), was diagnosed with breast cancer, they lost their home because of medical bills, his grandmother was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, and Chuck spent most of the year in bed with nephritis which is a type of kidney infection. However these events did not stop him. He would go on to attend the University of Washington for two years, as well as Yale University where he grad