Andrews McMeel Universal John McMeel Tribute

D. D. Degg July 9, 2021 1 minute 1 comment

Andrews McMeel Universal has issued a memorial to
Chairman Emeritus and Co-Founder John P. McMeel.

excerpt:

“I’m not sure I ever met anyone who was more enthusiastic and energized about life and work than John,” said Gary Larson, creator of The Far Side®. “I confess to being a little on the withdrawn side when I first meet someone, and here was this highly animated, twinkle-in-his-eye guy with a great smile and strong handshake, wholeheartedly welcoming me to my new home as a cartoonist. I might have initially thought his demeanor couldn’t be entirely real, but over the years I came to realize that, no, this was John. He truly loved the business he was in, cared about others, and seemed to be an eternal optimist. I think that’s a rare species. Over the years, every time I crossed paths with John, he made me feel like I had just returned from a Siberian prison camp. It was effective, and I will miss him, and his glass-is-half-full attitude toward life.”

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Mike peters

What a great man. It was a joy being with John. He would call and not say who it was and say I had a dream last night and we would be walking on your beach. You would be telling a story and I would pull out a contract and say, mike , if you sign this we could just be on this beach all year , have steak , you do cartoons and we could have a great relationship !!! That was the John McMeel I I knew. One time I was introducing Gary Larson for a speech he was making in Dayton. Before his speech he was sitting in my little office at the Dayton Daily News he told me he had been doing Farside for ten years for a syndicate in San Fransisco . I asked him if he was getting a good syndicate split. Gary said oh yeah He said they had a 60 -40 split for ten years but when the new contract came it was going to be 50- 50. I told Gary to wait just a moment. I called up John and said do you syndicate Gary’s books. He said yes and he promised his San Fransisco syndicate that he would never try to steal his syndication from them. I told John that. His syndication contract was up and Gary was excited that they were giving him a contract for 50-50. And that Gary was in my office. Would you like to talk to him?That’s one reason why John McMeel always liked me.

Jul 12,2021

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Andrews McMeel Universal John McMeel Tribute

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Mike peters

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