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As some of you probably know, May 5th (in addition to marking Cinco de Mayo) was "National Cartoonists' Day". It was on this day in 1895 when the very first newspaper comic strip ("The Yellow Kid") was published. Since then, a plethora of strips have come and gone from the 'funny pages'...
In 1995, I had the rare opportunity of being a volunteer worker in a makeshift gift shop for the International Museum of Cartoon Art in Boca Raton, Florida (which was still under construction at the time). In addition to helping customers out with their shopping needs, I'd show them a display case with a model of what the museum would look like, upon its completion in 1996. The volunteer work only lasted a few months, but during that time, I got to meet a number of comic strip and animation artists - when the National Cartoonists' Society held their annual convention in Boca Raton. (I'd previously posted a photo of me with the late Jeff ["Shoe"] MacNelly, who was attending said convention.)
During the year of IMCA's opening, a small reception was taking place in the Boca Raton City Hall building. There, former employees and volunteer workers - including yours truly - were welcomed to the special event, hosted by the museum's founder... cartoonist Mort Walker (the artist/creator of "Beetle Bailey" and "Hi and Lois")! As a reward for service, each employee and volunteer worker was going to have his/her picture taken with Mr. Walker - who would later autograph each of the developed photos and have them mailed out to each representative...
I use the word 'was' in the proposed tense, because (believe it or not) something went wrong with the camera that was to be used for said photos. But, like something out of a cartoon, a miracle took place. As it turned out, I had brought my own 35mm camera, with a fresh (unused) roll of film already inside. So, Mr. Walker borrowed my camera, and had the photographer use it (instead of his own) to take snapshots of the IMCA vets. Luckily, there were enough exposures in my one roll of film to cover everyone there.
After rewinding, I gave the photographer the film to be developed, and I eventually got my (autographed) photo with Mr. Walker in the mail. The photographer kept the negatives, and mailed out the additional prints to the other reception attendees.
And so, thirteen years later, I would like to share with you - in continuation of my 'photo-op' series - the photo of me with Mort Walker (who is still working on "Beetle Bailey" strips to this very day)!
If you'd like to visit his website, go to http://www.mortwalker.com/
ADDENDA: Mort Walker passed away (from pneumonia) in his Connecticut home on January 27, 2018. He was 94.
In 1995, I had the rare opportunity of being a volunteer worker in a makeshift gift shop for the International Museum of Cartoon Art in Boca Raton, Florida (which was still under construction at the time). In addition to helping customers out with their shopping needs, I'd show them a display case with a model of what the museum would look like, upon its completion in 1996. The volunteer work only lasted a few months, but during that time, I got to meet a number of comic strip and animation artists - when the National Cartoonists' Society held their annual convention in Boca Raton. (I'd previously posted a photo of me with the late Jeff ["Shoe"] MacNelly, who was attending said convention.)
During the year of IMCA's opening, a small reception was taking place in the Boca Raton City Hall building. There, former employees and volunteer workers - including yours truly - were welcomed to the special event, hosted by the museum's founder... cartoonist Mort Walker (the artist/creator of "Beetle Bailey" and "Hi and Lois")! As a reward for service, each employee and volunteer worker was going to have his/her picture taken with Mr. Walker - who would later autograph each of the developed photos and have them mailed out to each representative...
I use the word 'was' in the proposed tense, because (believe it or not) something went wrong with the camera that was to be used for said photos. But, like something out of a cartoon, a miracle took place. As it turned out, I had brought my own 35mm camera, with a fresh (unused) roll of film already inside. So, Mr. Walker borrowed my camera, and had the photographer use it (instead of his own) to take snapshots of the IMCA vets. Luckily, there were enough exposures in my one roll of film to cover everyone there.
After rewinding, I gave the photographer the film to be developed, and I eventually got my (autographed) photo with Mr. Walker in the mail. The photographer kept the negatives, and mailed out the additional prints to the other reception attendees.
And so, thirteen years later, I would like to share with you - in continuation of my 'photo-op' series - the photo of me with Mort Walker (who is still working on "Beetle Bailey" strips to this very day)!
If you'd like to visit his website, go to http://www.mortwalker.com/
ADDENDA: Mort Walker passed away (from pneumonia) in his Connecticut home on January 27, 2018. He was 94.
Category Photography / Human
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 775 x 661px
File Size 269.5 kB
I don't know about that, Gene... I do recall Walker creating another comic strip - "Boner's Ark" - drawn under the pen name 'Addison', before eventually passing the strip onto another artist. Meanwhile, you are partially right about several Walkers being involved in "Beete bailey" alone... namely, members of Mort's family! (See the Wikipedia site on Mort Walker, for more details.)
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