Thee cards reproduced in this booklet were found inside one of the storage units of my spouse Jen’s late aunt and uncle. After his death in late 2023, her uncle’s estate was left to my mother-in-law. We shared the labor of going through his many books, papers, and collections as a family project. The clean-out was a large job that took over a year and a half to complete with care. There was an overwhelming amount of furniture, kitchenware, clothes, and all else, and there were several hundred banker boxes of printed matter.

My spouse’s uncle made small publications—many were shared with the congregation at his Lutheran church. I suspect that these cards, printed on light blue cardstock, were used with young people as discussion prompts. I’m treating them as a found text because I’m not sure if they were written by multiple authors, or if they were copied from other sources. In the 1980s and 90s, he conducted teen programs. Jen participated when she was that age. She said they were extremely positive experiences that highlighted her uncle’s best qualities. Jen said that as teens, they were encouraged to ask questions. Some of these questions on these cards may have been generated that way. 

The cards are undated and look to be made by hand, not mass-produced. They’re hand-numbered 1-5 on the backs. Maybe to divide participants into groups? Every card I found is reproduced here. The cover stock used to print this booklet also came from the estate. 

Some of these cards feel like questions from the 1980s game Scruples which is about answering ethical questions. Some of these questions make me feel uncomfortable; I don’t want to ask or want to know people’s answers to many of them. I’m attracted to these cards mainly as a conceptual text. If someone or some group could generate ninety-two questions to use in discussions with young people, what would they ask?

 
— Marc Fischer / Public Collectors