Kim Casali

[7] The birth split public opinion and although Casali received "hundreds of letters applauding her bravery", some disagreed with her actions, including the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano which wrote that it was "against evangelical morality.

"[8][9] Born Marilyn Judith Grove in Auckland, New Zealand, Casali left home aged nineteen to travel around Australia, Europe and the United States.

In 1967 she moved to Los Angeles where she met and began a relationship with Roberto Alfredo Vincenzo Casali, an Italian computer engineer, at a ski-club where they were both taking lessons.

"[6] Although other sources differ regarding whether it was Roberto or Casali herself who first showed the cartoons to an acquaintance working for the Los Angeles Times, the newspaper picked them up for publication and published the first of the series on 5 January 1970, under the pen name "Kim".

[2][10][12][13] The cartoon's release coincided with the wave of success of the novel Love Story (1970) by Erich Segal, and the subsequent movie of the same name starring Ali MacGraw as a girl dying of an incurable disease and Ryan O'Neal as the student who worshiped her.

"[14] While the cartoons proved to be very popular and were soon syndicated in the United States and overseas, being published in newspapers in fifty countries world-wide, Roberto's company had closed down and the couple "found themselves living in the US illegally, 'trying to find jobs that would keep us one step ahead of the Immigration Department'".

Despite initial opposition from the medical profession she underwent several treatments of artificial insemination at a Cambridge clinic, and gave birth to son Milo Roberto Andrea sixteen months later, on 10 July 1977.

[17] The birth announcement consisted of a simple card drawn by Casali with the Love is... girl pushing a pram on the front, with the inscription inside: "Proudly presenting Milo Roberto.