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Cartoonist, author Stephan Pastis speaks in Little Rock

by | Jul 1, 2022 | Arts

Stephan Pastis speaks at the Ron Robinson Theater in Little Rock on March 16, 2022. Photos: Michael Hibblen

Stephan Pastis, the cartoonist behind “Pearls Before Swine,” recently came through Arkansas, speaking to a packed theater with hundreds of fans in Little Rock. This has been my favorite newspaper strip for years and it was great not only being part of the event, but also interviewing Pastis for a story on KUAR and showing him some landmarks in the city. 

The appearance was part of his “I just gotta get out of the house” mini-book tour, which included his first public events since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic two years earlier. In March, Pastis spoke in Tulsa, Fort Worth, then Little Rock, driving to the appearances. He allowed several days between each event so that he could take time to see things that interested him along the way. He had researched historic and noteworthy places, planning what seemed like an enviable sightseeing trip.

In advance of the event here, I interviewed Pastis via Zoom. It was fascinating being able to ask him about the inspirations for the strip, how the characters represent different aspects of his personality, and how he met his hero, “Peanuts” cartoonist Charles Schulz. Pastis got advice and encouragement at a time when he was hoping to give up being an attorney to launch the syndicated strip. 

“Pearls Before Swine” debuted on Dec. 31, 2001 and, I’d say, has held up better than most other strips over the years. Through characters Rat, Pig and Goat, it very effectively addresses a wide range of topics and emotions while mixing in social commentary and being incredibly funny. He sometimes writes more simple strips that extol the joy of drinking beer or feature long winded puns, sometimes ending with self-deprecating animated cameos by the cartoonist. 

In the interview, which aired on KUAR during All Things Considered a few days before the event, we discussed how he addresses current issues in the strip, especially the COVID-19 pandemic. The uncertainty and isolation presented a situation like nothing in our lifetimes. Pastis masterfully conveyed the anxiety and loneliness, as well as the uncertainty of whether society would ever be able to return to doing things as basic as going to bars and enjoying drinks with friends. 

“This is the only time in my career where I knew the whole world was talking about one thing,” Pastis said. “If you don’t address that one thing, you’re not going to be very relevant.”

Before we started recording the interview, Pastis quizzed me for maybe a half hour about Arkansas and places he had heard about and was considering visiting. His curiosity was amazing. The only time Pastis had been in the state before, he said, was years earlier when he made a quick drive across the Mississippi River from Memphis just to buy beer at a liquor store in West Memphis so that he could say he had set foot in Arkansas.

Newspaper comic sections have always held a special place in my heart. As a kid, it was the first reason I started looking at newspapers. As an adult, the few strips I still make a point to read each day provide some respite after going through the serious news of the day. I also learned more about the intense loyalty of comic strip readers during my years working at the Miami Herald.

My introduction to comic strips came at an extremely young age after first seeing Charlie Brown and Snoopy on TV holiday specials. While learning to read, I started looking at the “Peanuts” comics by Schulz in the Arkansas Gazette, would check out large hardbound collections from my church library, and bought the many small inexpensive paperback books of his comics, learning the deep intricacies of the characters. 

I’ve never grown out of “Peanuts” even though Schulz died decades ago. I still enjoy reading classic “Peanuts” strips that are posted to Twitter each day. In 1995, I got a tattoo of Snoopy riding a skateboard on my right arm during a visit to Richmond, Virginia. I’ve also read biographies about Schulz, watched documentaries, and even brought my daughter to see her first film in a theater when she was 3 to watch The Peanuts Movie in 2015. 

Having the opportunity to talk with another cartoonist who was not only inspired by Schulz, but had also became close with Schulz and his family while being an incredible artist himself was fascinating. 

On Twitter, I often like or retweet “Pearls Before Swine” strips that connect with me. One time last year I received a direct message from Pastis thanking me for one comment. Then I was surprised to get a message in February telling me he was planning a book tour that would possibly bring him to Little Rock and asking if I would like to be involved. Of course, I said sure.

He eventually lined up an appearance at the great independent bookstore Wordsworth and asked if I would interview him during the event. Within a matter of days it became apparent that this would draw a much larger crowd than Wordsworth could host, so it was wisely moved to the Central Arkansas Library System’s Ron Robinson Theater, which can seat hundreds of people. My role then shifted to introducing Pastis at the start of the event, who gave a multimedia presentation followed by audience questions, with me moving around the theater with a wireless microphone to facilitate questions.

In the days before arriving in Little Rock, Pastis wrote on Twitter that he was “meandering through Arkansas,” with visits to Texarkana, Hope, the Crater of Diamonds State Park and Hot Springs.

When he arrived in Little Rock for the event on Wednesday, March 16, we met at the Ron Robinson Theater for a check of the equipment, then went across the street for a quick dinner. When we came back an hour later, the place was packed! I was told it was the largest audience the theater had seen for an event since before the pandemic with more than 300 people. Extra folding chairs were added in the back and the balcony was also full. 

Stephan Pastis gives a multimedia presentation at the Ron Robinson Theater in Little Rock on March 16, 2022.

Pastis held the audience’s rapt attention while giving a presentation about his background and how he creates the daily strip. He then began taking questions, with no shortage of people standing up, eager to ask about many aspects of the strip or his series of Timmy Failure children’s books. I worked my way around the theater, trying to get to a diverse mix of people, including many kids who reminded me of myself as a young comic strip fan.

Pastis then spent more than an hour signing books and talking with fans. He wasn’t rushed with anyone, eagerly listening as people shared their own experiences of why the strip or books connected with them.

Afterward, in the mood for a few beers, I took him to my favorite bar, the White Water Tavern. The Little Rock landmark had nearly shut down for good during the pandemic with the family that owned the property considering tearing it down for houses to be built. But thankfully the two story bar and music venue, which has hosted performances by legendary performers, was bought by Travis Hill, who I had worked with in the 1990s at KUAR. He kept the same staff in place to continue running it.

At one point in the night, realizing what a jewel the White Water is, Pastis – noting sanctioned graffiti all over the place – asked for a Sharpie. He then went into the men’s restroom and wrote, “To the White Water Tavern… best bar in Arkansas,” and included an image of Rat with a frosty mug of beer in front of him. I had to get a photo of him putting that on the wall! Within two days Hill, who is also a fan of the strip, had clear plastic placed over the graffiti to protect it. 

Stephan Pastis writes graffiti in the men’s restroom of the White Water Tavern in Little Rock, celebrating it as the “best bar in Arkansas.”

Pastis stayed in Little Rock a couple more days, so I joined him after work the following day to visit historic Central High School, which was desegregated by nine Black students in 1957. We also saw the nearby house where Daisy Bates, mentor of the Little Rock Nine, lived with her husband L.C. Bates. The house was where the students would gather before going over to Central High with a U.S. Army escort. We then went to the Arkansas State Capitol, roaming its empty halls before capping his visit to Little Rock with a dinner at Does Eat Place, one of the best known gathering spots for Arkansas politicians. 

Pastis left Little Rock the next day for Eureka Springs and additional speaking appearances elsewhere in the country, including Pittsburgh and Buffalo, New York. It was great meeting him, showing him around town, and getting to know more about the person behind the strip.

Discussing 19th century murders with the authors of two recent books during literary festival

by | Oct 29, 2021 | Arts

It was great fun to again take part in the annual Six Bridges Book Festival presented over the last two weeks by the Central Arkansas Library System. During a live online session, I talked with the authors of two nonfiction works about crime in the 1800s.

Dean Jobb wrote The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream: The Hunt for a Victorian Era Serial Killer, which is a disturbing, but fascinating look at a physician who mostly targeted sex workers for poisoning. Also joining me was Dr. Courtney E. Thompson, author of An Organ of Murder: Crime, Violence, and Phrenology in 19th Century America. It delves into what for a few decades was considered a way to determine various things about people, including criminal intent, based on the shape of their heads.

Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, for the second year in a row the festival was held virtually via Zoom. I was in my office at KUAR, while the authors joined me from their homes. While I miss meeting authors face-to-face and moderating sessions in-person, the online format has allowed the festival to be expanded from four to 11 days, and there are fewer concurrent events.

Festival Coordinator Brad Mooy discussed the trade offs during an interview with me on KUAR before the start of the festival.

“Of course I enjoy having authors come to Little Rock who have never been here or to the south before, but there is some convenience to the virtual aspects. The virtual festival allows us to get a few authors who might not have been available to us if it were fully in person,” Mooy said.

Discussing Caves with Author Michael Ray Taylor during 2020 Six Bridges Book Festival

by | Nov 27, 2020 | Arts

Unfortunately the COVID pandemic led to the 17th annual Six Bridges Book Festival being held virtually this year. I’ve been a regular moderator over the years for the event hosted by the Central Arkansas Library System. This year I spoke remotely with Michael Ray Taylor, author of Hidden Nature: Wild Southern Caves, on Oct. 23. It was a fascinating discussion on caves, what they can tell us about the past, his own adventures, and advice for beginners and experienced cavers.

Beat Generation poet Michael McClure Dies at 87

by | May 7, 2020 | Arts

Poet, novelist and playwright Michael McClure, who was part of the Beat literary movement when it began in the mid-1950s in San Francisco, died Monday, May 4. He was 87. McClure, along with Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and many others, helped usher in the counter-culture movement that still resonates today.

With news of Michael McClure’s death, I dug out a few items from the day I interviewed him in Miami in 1999.

I recorded a brief interview with McClure on Nov. 21, 1999 while he was in Florida to take part in a lecture at the Miami Book Fair titled “The Beats Now: Talks with Icons and Editors of the Beat Generation.” My questions were a bit dorky, but I was trying to get him to discuss a few key points about what the movement was truly about.

“I would say that it was about going for the deepest level of the imagination possible,” McClure said. “We discovered it was inevitable to speak out against the cold, gray, fascist American way politics of the ‘50s and also to begin speaking out in favor of the environment. That’s not quite the way it’s pictured with people sitting around with spaghetti in their beard playing bongo drums and wearing splotchy berets.”

At that time, he was performing with keyboardist Ray Manzarek, formerly of the Doors. A book of Zen poems had been released that year, while Penguin Books had reissued two books from decades earlier that had been out of print.

Asked if he was surprised at the resurgence of interest in the Beats, McClure told me no.

“We’ve had a good three revivals already and I don’t know if there’s going to be more, maybe I won’t be around for the next one. Each one of these rivals gets more serious and they begin being taught in classes and things like that.”

AUDIO: My interview with Michael McClure, recorded at the Miami Book Fair on Nov. 21, 1999.

I was grateful to McClure for giving me a few minutes of his time. I dug out my minidiscs from that day in 1999 to digitize the audio of the interview.

I also spoke with writer Diane di Prima, who also took part in the lecture. I had recently read her book Memoirs of a Beatnik, which was full of lots of sex and drugs. I asked her about the book, what it was like being a woman in the Beat movement, and her relationship with Kerouac.

AUDIO: Hear my interview with Diane di Prima, recorded at the Miami Book Fair on Nov. 21, 1999.