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Dear Abby
Lalo Alcaraz
Tony Auth
Brian Basset
Perry "Dr. Buff" Buffington
Scott Burns
Hector Cantu
Carlos Castellanos
Jok Church
Ann Coulter
Jim Davis
Bill DeOre
Kim Doren and Charlie Jones
Jan Eliot
Amy Friedman
Maggie Gallagher
Jerry Gay
Georgie Anne Geyer
Patrisia Gonzales and Roberto Rodriguez
Cathy Guisewite
Eugenia Last
Bonnie Tandy LeBlang
Tom McMahon
Patricia McLaughlin
John McPherson
Jeff Millar
Wiley Miller
Steve Moore
Susan Nicholson
Pat Oliphant
Tim Parker
Lennie Peterson
Joel Pett
Dan Piraro
Ted Rall
Richard Reeves
Gina Spadafori
Mark Tatulli
T.J. Tomasi
Jim Davis

Jim Davis

CREATOR OF "GARFIELD," THE MOST WIDELY SYNDICATED CARTOON IN THE WORLD

Topics

Follow Your Dream —
Do What You Love

The Creative Process

Working With Artists/
Creative People

Licensing

Taking a Western Brand Abroad

Taking Corporate Responsibility for the Environment

Using Comic Strips to Teach Kids to Read

How to Become a Syndicated Cartoonist in 10,041 Easy Lessons

Jim Davis’ presentations combine the wit and humor of a cartoonist and the savvy of an international businessman who has made sure his character is known and loved around the world.

Jim Davis was born July 28, 1945, in Marion, Ind., and was raised on a small Black Angus cow farm with his parents, James and Betty, and his younger brother, Dave (Doc). As on most farms, the barnyard had its share of stray cats — about 25 at one time, by Jim’s estimation.

Jim thinks he probably would have become a farmer had it not been for his serious bouts of asthma as a child. Forced inside, away from regular farm chores, he whiled away the hours drawing pictures. His pictures were so bad he had to label them. With practice, his drawing got better, but Jim concluded that pictures accompanied by words were more fun anyway.

By junior high school, his asthma was in check, and Jim even went on to letter in high school football. Later, he attended Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., where he majored in art, business and practical jokes.

After college, Jim spent two years working for a local advertising agency before becoming an assistant to “Tumbleweeds” creator Tom Ryan. Soon, Jim learned the skills and discipline necessary to become a syndicated cartoonist. He combined his wry wit with the art skills he had honed since childhood, and Garfield, a fat, lazy, lasagna-loving, cynical cat, was born. Jim says Garfield is a composite of all the cats he remembered from his childhood, rolled into one feisty orange fur ball. Garfield was named after Jim’s cantankerous grandfather, James Garfield Davis.

The strip debuted on June 19, 1978, in 41 U.S. newspapers. Several months after the launch, the Chicago Sun-Times canceled Garfield. More than 1,300 angry readers demanded that Garfield be reinstated. It was, and the rest, as they say, is history. Today, Garfield is read in 2,600 newspapers by at least 263 million readers around the globe.

Jim Davis has had many successes with Garfield, including four Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated Program and induction into the Licensing Hall of Fame (1998), but his most prized awards are from his peers in the National Cartoonists Society: Best Humor Strip (1981 and 1985), the Elzie Segar Award (1990) and the coveted Reuben Award (1990) for overall cartooning. The American Association of State Colleges and Universities awarded Davis the Distinguished Alumnus award in 1985 for his dedication to the promotion of higher education.

Davis’ time and energy have not been devoted exclusively to cartooning and Garfield. He is also an active environmentalist: In 1990, the National Arbor Day Foundation awarded him the Good Steward award for his efforts in reforestation in his native state of Indiana. Davis is also involved with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in a campaign promoting the restoration of wetlands, as well as The National Wildlife Federation’s “Build a Schoolyard Habitat” campaign that encourages students to provide wildlife environments on school grounds.

In 1981, Davis formed Paws, Inc., a full-service licensing studio created to support Garfield’s global business ventures. Paws watches over Garfield’s world and operates under the strict eye of Davis to maintain the quality of the Garfield character that now appears on thousands of products sold all over the world.


For more information:

AMU Speakers Bureau
4520 Main Street
Kansas City MO 64111
speakersbureau@amuniversal.com
800-255-6734


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