I knew I was in for an exceptionally interesting day when at 8:15 a.m. I was talking to six comic strip artists and one hour later I was speaking with the biographer of John Quincy Adams! And after that came the fun of rehearsing with two talented music theater students for their upcoming recital and then teaching successive voice lessons to three of my finest voice students. And then you add to that the fun of playing for Carthage Choir, the satisfaction of leading my church choir in rehearsal – and the delight of sitting in on the final minutes of the read-through for the Racine Theater Guild’s production of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory . . . and you can well understand why I am feeling ridiculously happy and profoundly exhausted tonight. (Unfortunately, before I head to bed I have to read a book about Karl Rove.)
I called it an exceptionally interesting day, but actually most of what I just listed is part of a normal Thursday for me. (How spoiled am I?) The most distinctive element of the day was that extraordinary gathering of comic strip artists to whom I spoke on today’s Morning Show. They are all in town for the second annual Kenosha Festival of Cartooning, an event created and coordinated by my friend Ann Morse Hambrock, whose husband John is responsible for the award winning comic strip “The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee.” Their first festival last year was such a success that there was never any question that there would be a second one- and it was my pleasure to speak with all six of them on my program. The artists were: Stephan Pastis, “Pearls Before Swine.” Greg Craven, “The Buckets.” Nick Feuti, “Retail” and “Gil.” Michael Jantze, “The Norm.” Hillary Price, “Rhymes with Orange.” Dave Coverly, “Speed Bump.”
First I have to say that for as funny as these six people on paper, they’re just as funny or maybe funnier in person. But what was also great was how each of them was funny in their own particular way; it wasn’t like there were six Adam Sandlers or six Jerry Seinfelds sitting around that table. The six of them were like six different instruments in a jazz combo, each contributing their own unique timbre and their own unique sense of style. It was also neat to hear of the dramatically different pathways which each of them took to enter the business. Several of them did the whole art school thing, but Stephen Pastis – arguably the best known of the six – basically never studied art a day in his life, and it shows! His hilarious comic strip, visually, is one of the most primitive out there- but somehow it works and the strip would probably not work its same magic were Pastis somehow blessed with the skills of a more polished artist.
The most drastic difference between them came to light when I asked them how they each would actually sit down and work on their respective strips. Several of them have studios to which they retreat from the world, and Stephan Pastis said that he actually puts on headphones and listens to music as loudly as he can stand it – and actually burns incense to help him focus. Michael Jantze talked about the notebook of ideas which he keeps, and how he tried to keep each separate idea on its own page so he can keep them straight and work on nurturing each idea in rather methodical fashion. Hillary Price’s ritual includes reading every word of the newspaper every single day, which almost always yields rich rewards in terms of fodder for her strip. Greg Craven, who is behind “The Buckets,” talked much more about just living in the chaos of real life but paying attention for ideas and then jotting them down on whatever scrap of paper might be handy. In the interview he talked about a recent night at home when his young toddler kept crawling off towards the bathtub, despite Greg’s incessant admission of “No you don’t” over and over again. Finally his young son turned back to him and asked in all innocence, “why do you keep saying that?” Voila! Another strip, just like that! Nick Feuti’s comic strip “Retail” draws heavily upon the fifteen frustrating years he spent working in retail, while “Gil” is the strip that allows him to relive some of his childhood pain as a boy who’s rotten at sports. And Dave Coverly, of “Speed Bump” fame, coined one of the best lines in the whole discussion when he said that “if life were a movie, <these comic strips> would be the outtakes.” I love that! Coverly also shared this amazing quote from Picasso that is good for anyone to remember whose involved in any artistic creative endeavor: Inspiration does exist but it has to find you working.
The main point of all this is that each of them is doing this in their own unique way, in their own unique voice – and that’s why they are so successful. That’s a lesson for all of us, no matter what we do. A long time ago I figured out that I couldn’t lead a choir rehearsal the way Michael Burkhardt did – or Eduardo Garcia- Novelli – or Weston Noble – or Polly Amborn – or John Windh or anyone else. I have to do it in a way that fully accesses my own gifts and makes the most of my strengths while minimizing my weaknesses. I have to do it the way that works for me. My friend Steve Smith gave me a very significant gift a few years back when he strongly encouraged me to lead the Holy Communion senior choir in the way that was right for me- and I can’t tell you how liberating it was to receive that encouragement- in a sense that permission to be myself. These comic strip artists reminded me of that in very powerful fashion.
I took away another main theme from the conversation, and that was the matter of profound gratitude. Success in the comic strip world did not come easily or instantly to any of these artists- and for a couple of them, they had to swallow many years of rejection before a door opened and they were allowed to step through. For several of them, one very significant factor that kept them from giving up was that each of them had received a personal word of encourage- ment from a legend in the business named Jay Kennedy. . . even if it was just a few handwritten words scrawled at the bottom of a rejection letter – words that said something like “you’ve got the start of something really good here. Keep working.” (Michael Jantze mentioned that he still had the old cassette that had the message that Mr. Kennedy had left on his answering machine, offering him encouragement. They appreciated the help that anyone had ever given them – and certainly all six of them were deeply grateful that what once had been nothing but a dream was now, unbelievable as it might seem, really happening! I think if I had found any or all of these artists to have been smug and self-satisfied, the interview would have been the longest 49 minutes of my life. Instead, I found myself in the presence of six happy, vibrant, creative, and grateful human beings – and what could be better than that?!
pictured above: WGTD news director Dave McGrath snapped this photo right before we began the show. Left to right: Craven, Feuti, Coverly, Price, Pastis, Jantze. By the way, if you want to hear the interview, go to our website: wgtd.org, click on Listen, and then click on the link for listening to past programs. This interview aired on Thursday, September 27th.