The Glamorous World of a Cartoonist
Some of my earlier memories involve sitting in a church pew and drawing cartoons on the bulletins in order to make my mom, dad, sister, or grandma laugh. Most times they would. But I now wonder if it was because the sermons often ran long and by noon, we were all pretty much delirious from hunger.
I was lucky to grow up in a family that loved each other and loved to laugh. In addition to the carbohydrates, evening dinners were filled with jokes, wisecracks, and stories about funny things that happened that day. Humor was simply a part of every day life for my mom, dad, sister, and me.
I was encouraged from a very young age to draw. I remember spending lots and lots of time trying to draw Mad Magazine characters and of course Charlie Brown and Snoopy. But more importantly, I remember trying to draw my dad's cartoon characters.
You see, my dad was a fantastic cartoonist. He tried for as long as I could remember to get one of his cartoon strips syndicated for the newspapers. He came very close several times (I still have the promising letters written to him from the syndicates). I think it would've been just a matter of time until he got syndicated, but sadly he died in 1972 at the young age of 48. Look to the left (or above, depending on your device) to see caricatures he did of our family for a Christmas card in the '60's.
I still live in the same town where I was born. Married the girl I had a mad crush on in high school and get together frequently with my sister and her family.
When I'm not cartooning, I teach drum lessons at a local music store and I play in a jazz trio. My other interests include Jungian psychology, The Simpsons, NBA games, watching taped reruns of the TV show Northern Exposure, and traveling with my wife to area small town cafes.