Dave Sattler Roast and Toast

Dave Sattler drew the editorial cartoon for the Sunday Journal and Courier for nearly 50 years. Recently retired from cartooning, the town celebrated him last Saturday night with a roast and toast. Since Dave is a friend (and his wife, Nancy, a close friend and former colleague at Hershey), Craig and I went. We were not disappointed.

 It was held at the Long Center (the old Mars theater) in downtown Lafayette.

 Our seats were down in front and close to the stage.

I had not seen Nancy for a few months, and she seemed surprised and touched that I was there. In fact, their whole family was there - kids, grandkids, and siblings. It was a very big night for them all.

 Nancy is one of the best teachers I have ever known. She offered a lot to her students and is still missed at Hershey. To say she was legendary would truly be an understatement.

 The roasters/toasters from left to right: Tom Turpin, John Norberg, Angie Klink, Mark Brandyberry, Dave Sattler, Jo Wade, John Dennis (mayor of West Lafayette), and Tony Roswarski (mayor of Lafayette).

As each panel member roasted and toasted Dave, a cartoon he had drawn of them was shown overhead.

 Dave was the concluding speaker, and he got the opportunity to roast and toast his fellow panel members. The evening lasted two hours and was hilarious. Craig and I laughed and laughed.

I have my own Dave Sattler portrait that Dave did as a gift to me. It is one of my treasures, and hangs in our bedroom. Knowing how much I loved Boo, the little cat that often appeared in Dave's drawings (and was their real cat), he included Boo in my drawing. (I used to email Dave on Sundays as president of the fictional Boo Fan Club if Boo was not in that week's cartoon and file a "complaint" about the missing kitty.)

Just as Nancy is deeply missed at Hershey, Dave's chronicling of Lafayette through his cartoons will leave a big hole in the fabric of our community.

Dave Sattler Does it Again!

Dave Sattler rocks!!

He has absolutely NAILED the current flap over Indiana's sad testing woes.

And I love how he includes his wife and former teacher, Nancy, as the teacher!

Goodbye to Boo

My favorite cartoon kitty is Boo, the little black cat that appears in Dave Sattler's editorial cartoons. But there is a living counterpart to Boo the cartoon - Boo the real cat!

Dave's wife Nancy taught with me for years and I got to know both Dave and Boo through her. She often told Boo stories while we ate lunch, sharing that Boo got up on Friday mornings at 3:00 AM and went to the basement with Dave, sitting on the drawing table while Dave drew that week's editorial cartoon. When I learned that the cat was so patient with their grandchildren that he would let them put diapers on him and play with him as though he were a doll, I was hooked - I was a true Boo fan.

And so, I dubbed myself the president of the Boo Fan Club and "campaigned" via tongue-in-cheek emails to Dave for more appearances of Boo. Dave always responded with some sort of witty remark or another. For example, when this editorial ran November 20, 2011, I fired off an email to him asking why Boo was not in the picture.

He responded that Boo was hiding behind the newspaper vending machine.

The next week, November 27, 2011, Boo reappeared.

(Dave received a heartfelt thank you note from the Fan Club president that Sunday.)

Two months later, I was preparing to send yet another "protest" email on behalf of the Fan Club when something caught my eye.

Tiny kitty ears in the bottom lefthand corner of the cartoon! (January 22, 2012)

Even sneakier - look in the car on the right side - see the ears again? (February 2, 2012)

I think Dave really liked that strategy because here it is again. (March 18, 2012)

Once in a more serious email he said that there were times when including Boo just wasn't appropriate because a cat would not be in the situation portrayed. This way he could still get the cat in for those of us who looked forward to his appearances.

Here is an example of that in an earlier comic. Notice how Boo is not in the left panel?

Now look at the silhouette on the right panel - there he is on the far right!  (November 6, 2011)

Dave even added Boo in the portrait he drew of me in 2012 after visiting my classroom and talking to the kids about cartooning.

This picture is one of my treasures, all the more so because Boo is in it.

Sadly, Boo died last Tuesday (May 13.) He had become very ill and was in the vet hospital for several days. Nancy told me that it became apparent that Boo was not going to make it, and so they had him euthanized. He is buried on the top of the hill behind their home in the woods where he used to roam. And she told me that Dave is planning a tribute cartoon soon. I am very much looking forward to that.

A final cartoon, the one and only time Boo had a voice in one of Dave's editorials.

Boo, you were never chopped liver, to me or to the others who looked hopefully for you on the Sunday editorial page week after week! Thanks for all the memories. You will be missed.

(All pictures posted with Dave Sattler's permission.)

Finding Boo

Yet again, I found Boo this morning in Dave Sattler's editorial cartoon. (Picture posted on blog with Dave's permission.)

You have to look for him, but he's there. (See the end of this post if you can't find him.)

Dave and I were talking via email about Boo last week - Boo had gotten his own cartoon in Kid's Ear, the first time ever he has been the topic, and as the fictitious Boo Fan Club president, I emailed Dave to thank him.

Dave had some interesting thoughts about Boo and his role - he told me he thought most people saw Boo as just part of the scenery. I explained that, when we moved back to West Lafayette in 2006, Boo was one of the first things I'd noticed, and that I usually looked for him first before reading the cartoon for its point. I also pointed out that I thought others looked for and loved Boo, too.

Dave responded:

 I always thought Boo was only known to "insiders"... friends and family. Maybe not. The purpose of adding him, other than he's my buddy, is to have a constant character in the cartoons. He becomes our representative in the scene. Boo (you and I) was on the scene in last week's cartoon talking about issue A and here he is again this week in issue B. He always stays the same. Boo is US!!

The only time he isn't in it is if the scene isn't really a scene. For example, the one about Coach Hazell and recharging the phone. It wouldn't have made any sense.

So that's the story. I'm glad to know Boo has fans out there. I'll let him know.

Lucky me - I have met Boo personally. Nancy was taking him to the vet and stopped in at Hershey on a Saturday with Boo. He is a beautiful black cat with a very silky coat. Sadly, I did not get Boo's pawtograph when I had the chance. 

(If you could not find Boo, look in the car. He's peeking out a window! And don't miss Boo in the cartoon Dave drew of me at the header of this blog. Boo did sign the original cartoon which I have framed and displayed in my classroom.)