Pete Hoffman

I came home this evening and opened the mail.  There was a hand printed note from Pete Hoffman.  It simply said, "Dear Mark, Many thanks for your good wishes on my 90th birthday - And my best to you always.  Pete Hoffman."

Pete Hoffman turned 90 years old on February 22nd.  As a member of the National Cartoonists Society, I've had the great pleasure and honor of meeting some of the world's most talented and well known cartoonists.  And Pete Hoffman is one of the greats!

And I've been lucky to "meet and greet" with Pete at various NCS events over the years.

One such event happened back in 2004.  Our chapter of the NCS (the Great Lakes Chapter) helped celebrate the 50th anniversary of Pete's comic strip Jeff Cobb.  That's me and Pete in the above picture.  I won the original Jeff Cobb comic strip which Pete graciously signed just moments before the picture was snapped.

About a week or so ago, I got an email from fellow cartoonists Craig Boldman and Frank Pauer.  They alerted chapter members to Pete's upcoming 90th birthday and asked for cartoons extending our birthday wishes. I sent in the one pictured at left. This is why I got the nice thank you note from Pete.

I save the notes he's sent me over the years. His printing still has that clean, cartoon-like, word-balloon quality.  It's a work of art in itself!  Pete's stuff is simply amazing.  Check out this interview from 2004 and make sure to take a close look at his art.  He's a master of pen and brush and ink.

It was a nice surprise to get the thank you note from a guy so talented, so highly regarded by his peers, and one who helped define the cartoon profession.   I just thought I'd take a break from all the Linux talk and say once more, "Happy 90th birthday, Pete!"