Summer!

I love summer. I love writing Stone Soup strips about summer. I can get lost in Alix's undersea world and forget about politics and shootings and all the other miserable things that happen in the real world.

Over Memorial Day I attended the National Cartoonists Society Annual Reuben Awards and since it was held in Memphis this year I visited Graceland. A strange, wonderful place.

I was lucky enough to spend time with my cartoon pals Lynn Johnston (whose wonderful friend Paul got us a backstage tour at Sun Studios), Ann Telnaes (political cartoonist), Sandra Bell-Lundy (Between Friends), Jeff Smith (Bone), Jeanne Schultz and many many others, plus I met Eddie Pittman (Red's Planet) and lots of other great folks. Sergio Aragones was among the speakers (as was I) and it was amazing to hear his history with Mad Magazine. Think your life has been rough? Sergio spent his first night in the US on a bench beside New York's East River. A year later he was a regular with Mad. Lots to be admired there.

My new book is hitting the shelves, and it's a good one! If you are ready to add book 11 to your Stone Soup collection, the time has come.

I took the cover image from this strip...

 

Happy summer, all! Make sure you read your funnies every day to balance the more complicated parts of life!