Bill Mauldin

The late, great Bill Mauldin was/is/always will be my idol. A wonderful editorial cartoonist and crusty booger, Mauldin wrote his autobiography, "The Brass Ring" in the early 1970s. As a kid, then, at East Jr., I shyly asked the librarian at the Binghamton Public Library to direct me to the books on cartoons and cartooning, he did so by dutifully pointing me towards the 741.5s. But as I turned to go up the stairs, he stopped me and suggested a new book they had just gotten in. "The Brass Ring". I allowed that I had never heard of the author and nor could I recall seeing his work. The librarian explained that Mauldin, an editorial cartoonist for the "Chicago Sun-Times", who had made his bones in WWII as a soldier cartoonist for "Stars and Stripes" in Europe.

I hadn't given much consideration to this branch of cartooning... and while I loved animated stuff - mostly "Looney Tunes"... I was really more in some day doing daily newspaper comic strips. But I checked the book out; my curiosity sufficiently piqued.

I'll always be grateful to that nameless librarian for doing me such a favor. I'll go into more detail later about Mauldin's influence on my life. And I'll post more of Mauldin's stuff later. But I was out in the garage this afternoon, and found my old sketchbooks squirreled away. This delightful sample of Mauldin's work from the early '80s (clipped originally, I admit, from Playboy) taped in the pages one of the sketchbooks. I don't know if I noticed before, but my idol screwed up on the perspective of the tank of the john...

I wrote, the first time to Bill Mauldin in 1973. I don't recall what I wrote, but I'm sure it was a gushing piece of embarrassing fan mail, and with it I must have sent him a sampling of my work, with a request for him to critique. And maybe for a piece of his work while he was at it. Sort of a swap.

He wrote back, "Thanks for your note with the enclosed cartoon which you sent me. I feel that it is a mistake for a practicing member of the cartooning trade to comment on a colleague's work. You should send your work to a professional art teacher or an editor."

I wrote him again, some time later, and pointed out that several times in "The Brass Ring", he elaborated - happily - that as a kid and later as an art student, that he had asked - and received - patient input from many professional cartoonists. I recall I also reminded him that these gracious cartoonists were generous enough to leave him with an autographed original or two to boot. Shouldn't he do no less?

His secretary responded in his stead: "Mr. Maudin has been traveling but I did read your letter over the phone to him. He asked me to tell you that since it has become painfully clear to him in his middle age (I've just realized that he was, then, just a couple of years older than I am, now, for Pete's sake) he isn't going to be able to leave his children an estate, he feels the least he could do is leave them a pile of old cartoons. Therefore, he has been making it a practice to hang on to his stuff. He says it's nice to be asked, though."

His conscience must have been pricked, for in a few months, Mauldin had his secretary write me once again: "Mr. Mauldin asked me to tell you that the reason he ordinarily doesn't comment of art work sent to him is because he travels so extensively that it could be possibly take up to six months before he would be able to respond. However, Mr. Mauldin says that if you are willing to wait that length of time, please feel free to send him a sample of your work to him."

By then I figured, the hell with it.