Jason Whiton- Mort Walker Conversations

Jason's cartoon art book about the creator of Beetle Bailey, MORT WALKER CONVERSATIONS (University Press of Mississippi).

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When Mort Walker (b. 1923) was ten years old, he received an inscribed Moon Mullins cartoon from its creator Frank Willard that read, "Say Morton, those drawings you sent me were swell- I'll bet you'll be a big shot cartoonist some day." For Walker that day came sooner than even Willard could have thought. By the time he was fifteen, Walker was a comic strip artist for a daily metropolitan newspaper. By the time he was eighteen, he was chief editorial designer of Hallmark Cards. In 1950, King Features Syndicate launched Beetle Bailey, followed by Hi and Lois and numerous other comic strips over the years. Mort Walker Conversations collects interviews and articles that span from 1938 to 2004. In these conversations Walker shows how he managed to keep his art and stories fresh for over seventy years of production. Walker's love of storytelling shines here, as he recounts anecdotes concerning fellow cartoonists such as Charles M. Schulz (Peanuts), Al Capp (Li'l Abner), and Walt Kelly (Pogo). Being almost a generation younger than most of his peers, he was often called "the kid" by elder statesmen such as Milton Caniff and Rube Goldberg." His engagement with the Museum of Cartoon Art- which he founded- is discussed in these pieces, along with the politics involved in working with cartoonists' unions, artistic communities, and syndications.

Jason has enjoyed writing Picture Books for many years and is currently submitting to agents and editors.