Talking Mort Walker: a Life in Comics

Book excerpt: Talking Mort Walker: A Life in Comics is a major accomplishment." -Brian Walker (from the Foreword). Besides syndicating nine comic strips, including Beetle Bailey and Hi and Lois, Mort Walker devoted his life to creating, collecting, curating, and chatting about his one true love-the funnies. Talking Mort Walker: A Life in Comics takes readers on a journey for the first time through Walker's career between 1935-2018, where over 700 pages of rare interviews, articles, letters, unpublished photographs, and drawings reveal insights about the child prodigy who grew up to become the Dean of American cartooning.From his earliest press coverage as a kid to his final interview with his granddaughter, Walker maintained a healthy philosophy that "seven days without laughter makes one weak." Amongst his many awards and accomplishments, he was ultimately most proud of creating so many friends in the funny pages for millions of readers. Throughout this 83-year collection of clippings, Walker reveals his passion as well as his experienced views on the craft, business and history of cartoon art.Talking Mort Walker: A Life in Comics is a touchstone for comic scholars, fans, and budding cartoonists. Started before Walker's death, the book also includes speeches from his memorial by Tom Gammill (Seinfeld, The Simpsons, Futurama), Joe D'Angelo (King Features), Rocky Shepard (King Features), and tributes -many written specially for this volume- by his family and colleagues, including Jim Davis (Garfield), Patrick McDonnell (Mutts), Jeannie Schulz (Charles Schulz Museum), Lynn Johnston (For Better or For Worse), Jenny Robb (Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum), and writers including R.C. Harvey, Rick Marschall, David Astor, John Breunig, Jud Hurd, and Cullen Murphy. Author Jason Whiton first collaborated with Mort Walker on the biographical book project, Mort Walker Conversations (2005). He is the creator of Spy Vibe, a website about Cold War pop culture and design which has seen millions of visitors. Whiton's publications also include the upcoming book Spy Vibe and contributions as a writer/artist to USA Weekend, Rolling Stone, Arcana Comics, The Instrumentalist and other periodicals. Whiton's films and screenplays have been recognized by the Nicholl Fellowships (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences), PBS, Sundance, and other festivals. He teaches drawing, cartooning, and media arts in San Francisco.