Brushes With Celebrity: Our Time with the Smiths

I haven't spoken to or seen too many celebrities in my life.

I live fairly sedately.  I rarely go out of my way to see anybody, much less anybody famous.  I can hardly believe that people I know want to talk to me, much less somebody well known.

I once went to a comic book convention with two of my sons, back in the 1990s, and we waited a long time in a line to see one of the more well-known comic book artists of that era.  When we finally got to see him, it was a very sterile experience.  We were rushed along by security, he signed something my sons had ready for him, didn't even look up at us, and we were pushed out.  It had all the emotional resonance of stamping a rubber chicken on an assembly line.

Later, we waited in a much shorter line for someone less well known, but a favorite of our family, Jeff Smith, the creator of the Bone comic book, an all-ages fantasy that was sort of a cross between Disney Donald and Scrooge McDuck adventures, and Lord of the Rings.  Even though the line was shorter, it took a very long time to see Jeff Smith.  That's because he was taking his time with each person.  When we finally saw him, it took him very little time to break down my shyness barrier, and make me and my sons feel comfortable.  He talked to you as a real person and was even willing to do a quick sketch.  Up until that time, it was the best celebrity experience in my life.

Several years later, Jeff Smith popped up in my life again.  He was the honoree at Pogofest and was inducted into the Okefenokee Area's budding Cartoonist Walk of Fame.  Alison and I were designated to help Jeff and his beautiful wife, Vijaya, at their Pogofest booth at the fair.  Somehow we stayed with them for most of the rest of the trip here, including an after party with other famous cartoonists, breakfast at Huddle House, and a trip to the Swamp Park.  He drew pictures for all the members of my family.  By the time they left, we were very good friends.

I did not follow up.  I let them live their own lives and did not pursue a friendship after.  I've always wondered if that was a mistake, but that's what it's like with us introverts.  We don't often take the initiative.

You may not have heard of the Cartoonist Walk of Fame.  That's because not too many years later, the whole idea was abandoned.  Pogofest became Swampfest, a much smaller event that took place in April, encompassing about a block of downtown.  What was a national event became a small downtown festival.

I don't know the ins and outs as to why Pogofest was abandoned.  There may have been business and/or political reasons.  I've heard all sorts of rumors over the years, but nothing I could assert was definitely true.

I do know that before I moved into this area, Pogofest was the one and only thing I knew about Waycross.  And I think that was true for many others.  So, it is rather sad to me that it is now gone, vanquished into the recesses of area history.

I would love to see the return of Pogofest.  It may be too late now.  Fewer and fewer even remember the Walt Kelly cartoon set in the Okefenokee Swamp.  It would be great if more would try to restore the memory of that clever comic strip, alive with humor and relevant social satire.  But restoring it may be beyond the capacity of anyone, especially an introvert like me.

I miss the Smiths and all their cartoonist friends.  For a brief time, Alison and I pierced the celebrity veil and connected on a personal level.  For a fleeting instant, celebrity came to Waycross, and we found them just like us.

May the Cartoonist Walk of Fame live again.

UPDATE:  There has been some confusion about my memories of the Swamp Park visit.  Did we go to the Swamp Park?  There is someone else with strong memories of the Swamp Park visit, and I don't think they include us, for both the public event (which Alison and I were definitely not part of it) and a private event the next day.  My own memories aren't very strong of the interior of the park.  My strongest memories are of taking pictures for them and with them on the road outside the park, and of Jeff drawing pictures for us on a picnic table outside the swamp.  Did we take them there and not go in?  Neither Alison and I are sure.

Here is one of the three drawings that Jeff Smith did for Alison and me.  The other two were done for my sons, Greg and Doug, and they have those. Our pictures with them were from before call phoanes, and I'm not sure where they are.

No, it's not as elaborate a picture as he may have done for others, but for us, it was extraordinary and treasured.  The question isn't whether Jeff and Vijaya bonded more with others, but that they did bond with us, about as much anyone can, given our introverted instincts.

Finally, I'm not sure Jeff & Vijaya referred to themselves as the Smiths.  They used different last names in most of the public material they have, Jeff Smith and Vijaya Iyer.  They are married but may have chosen to keep their surnames, at least in public material.