News Release

John McPherson's "Close to Home" Celebrates 15 Years

Kansas City, MO  (11/16/2007)  The mindset of John McPherson, cartoonist of "Close to Home" is witty and sarcastic, yet playful, imaginative and sometimes just plain silly.

With more than 5,000 comics under his belt, this upstate New Yorker can revel in the success of his panel “Close to Home.” This month the immensely popular “Close to Home” comic panel celebrates 15 years of syndication with Universal Press Syndicate. Since 1992, McPherson has been creating a comic panel weekly for more than 700 newspapers worldwide.

McPherson attended Syracuse University, Corning Community College and received degrees in mechanical engineering and English from Bucknell University in 1983. While working as a design engineer, McPherson was searching for a creative outlet and discovered his penchant for cartooning. McPherson continued to work by day and moonlight as a cartoonist until 1990, when he decided to take up creating his frumpy looking characters in absurd situations full-time.

“Close to Home” has been compared to the satirical humor of Gary Larson’s “The Far Side” and in many papers, actually replaced the panel when Larson retired in 1995. “Gary’s work was a big influence for me. I think it has been for most cartoonists,” says McPherson, “But I’d rather not deal with all of the far-out nonsense; there is so much nonsense in real life to draw from.”

After 5,000 comic panels, the ink well of ideas for some cartoonists might dry up, but not for McPherson. The key for “Close to Home’s” longevity is keeping things fresh. “I don’t have recurring characters or an ongoing storyline in Close to Home,” McPherson says. “I don’t want to be tied down. This allows me so many more liberties and gives me some room to move.”

But, like any humorist, McPherson is no stranger to writer’s block. He will often roam malls, peruse book titles in the library, or take a drive in order to rediscover his muse. Sometimes, even his readers provide him with inspiration. When asked how he responds when fans approach him with ideas, he comes back jokingly, “Run away.”

“My characters are like family and no one knows family better than family,” he adds.

Readers don’t hesitate to give McPherson feedback, judging from the amount of e-mails he gets weekly. Sometimes, McPherson uses his fan and critics’ mail as part of his routine that he takes before audiences nationwide, speaking before business conventions and press organizations.

“My favorite e-mail was from a pilot who saw my panel which pictured a pilot in a plane which had nothing but an up and down switch on the control board,” says McPherson. “The pilot was upset that I would portray operating an airplane as being that simplistic. I wrote him back and reminded him that it was just a joke, and of course I knew a plane had more controls than an up and down switch. He actually wrote me back and said something about being in a really bad mood the day he first wrote me.”

After a panel featuring leaping ferrets that bite the noses of pet store patrons was printed, hundreds of e-mails from angry ferret devotees poured into McPherson’s inbox.

“It was just a joke. I wasn’t trying to make some sweeping statement about ferrets,” McPherson explained. But that next week, he received an e-mail from a former ferret owner whose pet had the same proclivity as the ones in the comic, and he had the scars to prove it.

McPherson keeps “Close to Home” current by providing his own quirky twist on contemporary life, but also makes sure to tread lightly around certain topics. “I avoid politics,” McPherson explains. “I don’t want to take sides within the cartoon. I try to be a bit edgy, but I’m not trying to be Howard Stern. I don’t want to be too crude or outwardly offend anyone.”

Though “Close to Home” remains as silly and absurd as ever, McPherson’s humor has grown up a bit. Part of that is due to his sons, Peter, age 13, and Griffin, age 9. “When my boys were little, I dealt with baby humor,” says McPherson, who lives near Syracuse, New York, with his sons. “Now that they are growing up, I’m dealing with older kid stuff, like parent-teacher conferences.”

The fans who love “Close to Home” are an elusive bunch that just can’t be pegged. “I hope my readers are as diverse and philosophical as my characters are,” McPherson says.

Interestingly, a large and “faithful” portion of “Close to Home’s” fan base has supported McPherson ever since he first sat down at the drawing table. McPherson’s comics were first published in the faith-based magazines Christianity Today and Campus Life. McPherson believes that it is the quirky and offbeat, mixed with a dose of good, clean fun which has won him so much praise in the faith community.

One of McPherson’s most prominent sources of inspiration comes from a side of life that most people dread: medicine. “The medical world is probably the most stressful aspect of everyday life,” explains McPherson. “Stressful situations fuel cartoon ideas.”

That kind of stress hit close to home, when a good friend of McPherson succumbed to cancer. Before his sick friend passed, he suggested to McPherson that the cartoonist should create a book about hospitals. He proceeded to provide McPherson with sketches and ideas for what would ultimately become "The Get Well Book."

Originally published in 50 newspapers across the nation, “Close to Home” now has a healthy syndication number of nearly 700 papers worldwide. The popularity of McPherson’s comic has spawned nearly 20 book collections, day-to-day calendars, a line of award-winning greeting cards and other assorted licensed products. The latest "Close To Home" collection is “Everything I Need to Know I Learned on Jerry Springer” (Andrews McMeel Publishing). You can also find "Close To Home" greeting cards in all Target stores.

McPherson has also contributed his talents to the best-selling series of Chicken Soup for the Soul books. In 2003, Chicken Soup for the Soul "Cartoons for Moms" and "Cartoons for Dads," which exclusively featured McPherson’s comics, were published. "Cartoons for Teachers" and "Cartoons for Golfers" are his latest contributions to the book series.

With seven comic panels to create each week and new product lines premiering constantly, John McPherson finds plenty of ways to fill the hours of the day. Clothing lines featuring “Close to Home” underwear will soon be appearing in stores across the country. And, someday, McPherson thinks that he may even try his hand at animation.

In the meantime, staying close to home is not a bad place to be.

Creator(s): John McPherson

Contact(s): Kathie Kerr

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