Gumby’s birthday
Well, it’s not technically Gumby’s birthday, it’s Art Clokey’s, the amazing guy who created him.
In his honor I’ve posted something special on my Scribd site. Last year I came across a 1986 interview I did with Art, something that had never been published, and which contains insights and stories that are as amazing now as they were when I first heard them.
I included some commentary about the interview and about myself as a writer way back then, and here’s a little something about the interview’s revelations:
“While there may now be an adequate collection of biographical information available, there wasn’t much if anything this revealing about Art’s life at the time. He shared intimate, at times deeply painful memories, recounting having been given up for adoption by his mother, his daughter’s suicide, his LSD therapy sessions, and his encounter with an Indian guru. That may have actually contributed to my inability to sell the final article, which I attempted to place with at least a half-dozen major publications. I don’t know where those boilerplate rejection letters are now, but I do recall that each of them had included a note from the editor as to how much everyone liked Gumby, but didn’t think the article was right for the publication.”
Happy birthday, Art.
