Chris Ayers

Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML)

Through chemotherapy, total body radiation, an autologous stem-cell transplant, Chris ultimately survived his cancer as well as by the love and support of his family, friends, fiancée – and by doing what he does best. On the one-year anniversary of his diagnosis, he started a sketchbook and challenged himself to draw one animal each day for 365 days. Out of that therapeutic endeavor came the book, The Daily Zoo – a collection of wonderfully creative animals, oozing with spunk and personality.

A typical day at work in Hollywood would have included aliens and action heroes, but The Daily Zoo was all about Chris’ childhood passion – drawing animals. You’ll find a flamingo who thinks he’s the Karate Kid, the ram who freed Scotland, hammerheads at the opera, a traveling salesmonkey and a few animals you’ve never even heard of, all in an array of media from pencils to paints. His imagination is as diverse as his studio – Chris has been known to sketch in airports, coffee shops, food courts, hotels and cars (as a passenger, of course!).

When we saw the flyer promoting Chris’ new book, we knew it was a “must have” for our customers – meeting him was the icing on the cake. His talent is matched only by his kind nature and gratefulness for each day life brings him.

Right then and there, we decided to ask Chris to bring to life an idea that we had had months earlier -- a concept called “Cancer Stinks.” Originally intended to be a t-shirt for our Children’s Collection, his take on the idea was so perfect and so universal, we are offering it in adult sizes as well. The result is far better than we’d ever imagined and we think you’ll love it too. . .