Ten Years and Still Counting

Across the Fence #522

This column brings the curtain down on the tenth year of writing “Across the Fence.” I hope the honeymoon isn’t over and you’re still taking time to visit with me each week. I read a statistic that the average American marriage lasts around eight years these days. Thanksgiving week will begin our eleventh year and thanks to all of you, we’ve got that average beat.

I want to welcome the readers of the Spring Grove Herald in Spring Grove, Minnesota to Across the Fence. I’ve been in correspondence with Beth Peterson, Editor and General Manager, and they ran my introductory column last week. Spring Grove is another community with deep Norwegian roots and I appreciate the opportunity to visit with you each week.

During Halloween, the Peanut’s classic, “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” was shown on TV again. This was the first year our grandson, Sean, saw the story and really liked when Snoopy rides atop his dog house and battles the Red Baron. We had to watch it with him a couple times when we visited last weekend. I was glad to see how he reacted to the show because I’ve always been a Charles Schulz fan.

"It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" bobbleheads.

Growing up, I loved the Peanuts cartoon strip. I loved the way it told a story using a simple cartoon style and great writing. I drew cartoons in my spare time when I was young. I thought they were great and sent some off to magazines. After many rejection letters, I, just like Charlie Brown, was afraid to look in the mailbox for fear of another rejection. As I struggled to become a famous cartoonist, my ideas, and even my characters, often mirrored Charles Schulz. I still have those old cartoons and cringe when I look at them now. 

I developed a strip and took it to the newspaper in Viroqua, thinking they’d be thrilled to run it. They took the time to politely look at them, but weren’t interested. More rejection. I was beginning to feel more and more like good ole’ Charlie Brown. I drew more strips called “Coon Prairie,” and took them to my hometown paper, the Westby Times. The publishers at the time had known me since I was a little kid. I think they took pity on me and said they’d publish them… for nothing of course. I was thrilled.

A couple months later I started commercial art school in Madison. One day I showed my “Coon Prairie” cartoon strip to an instructor. I thought they were pretty good. He didn’t see things the same way. He asked how much the newspaper was paying me per week for them. I told him I wasn’t getting paid. He just shook his head and said, “Howard, your art and writing is worth nothing if you give it away. Are you here to learn how to make a living with your art and writing, or are you just taking up a space that someone who’s serious about this could have?” He then said, “Instead of giving your work away, at least charge a dollar. Then it’s worth something. If they aren’t willing to pay one dollar, maybe it IS worth nothing.” 

   

When I sent the next cartoon to the paper, I asked if I could get a dollar a week for them. (A dollar in 1964 is worth around $7.50 in 2014 money.) I never heard a word back from them, and they didn’t publish any more of my cartoons. And Charlie Brown thought he felt rejected! I learned a valuable lesson from my professor. That was the end of my highly unpaid, cartooning career. 

I’ve found that writing and cartooning have their similarities. In cartooning, you’re trying to tell a story using words and pictures. In writing, you’re trying to tell a story using words to paint a picture in the reader’s mind. It’s always a challenge. As Ben Logan said, “Writing’s a lot of work. A lot of time is spent rewriting and editing.” I agree. I spend about one third of my time writing a story and two-thirds rewriting and editing. Once the story’s in print, I’ll still see things I wish I’d said differently. Due to newspaper deadlines and printing schedules, I’m always working eight days ahead of when the story appears in the paper. If I talk about the weather, it’s probably changed completely by the time you read it. For those of you in the Midwest, winter has arrived in full force as I write this story. I hope it’s all melted by the time you read this. It’s too early and I’m not ready.

Speaking of winter, congratulations to my friend, Jerry Apps. He just won an Emmy Award for the PBS special, “A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps.” If you haven’t seen this hour-long special and it’s companion PBS special, “Jerry Apps: A Farm Story,” I highly recommend them. It’s a trip back in time to the way things were when many of us grew up, told only as Jerry Apps can tell a story. Put the DVDs on your Christmas wish list for Santa Claus.

As we approach Thanksgiving, be sure to thank the publisher and editor who run “Across the Fence” in your newspaper. Now let’s begin year eleven!

*