By Stephanie E. Ponder
IN THE LATE 2000s, newspapers closed up shop at
an unprecedented rate. The trend alarmed not only
journalists, but also everyone who supplies material
for the funny pages. Stephan Pastis, the lawyer-turned-cartoonist behind the comic strip Pearls
Before Swine, channeled his career uncertainty into
a book for young readers: Timmy Failure: Mistakes
Were Made.
Timmy is the young founder and CEO of the
detective agency Total Failure, Inc. He happens to
have a “pet” polar bear, Total, who is also his partner.
The book begins with Timmy and Total having
driven a car into a living room. What follows is the
telling of the events—ahem, mistakes—that led to
the crash.
The Connection caught up with Pastis in New
York City, where he talked about his book and his
comic strip.
Costco Connection: In a 2008 interview you said
that newspapers were going away. Was writing a
book something you had in mind to counteract job
insecurity?
Stephan Pastis: When that slide started, [car-toonists] didn’t know where it would end. That was
a scary time. I made an e-book for Pearls, did
Timmy, wrote a screenplay. What’s cool is that, out
of that necessity, I found things I enjoyed as much
[as], if not more than, the strip. Writing Timmy is
the funnest [sic] eight weeks of the year. I look forward to him.
CC: Timmy is a little obtuse, yet his heart is in
the right place. Tell me a little about his character
development.
SP: I worked from the premise that I wanted a
character with a huge blind spot, because I always
find that funny—somebody who thinks they’re one
thing and then in reality they’re something else. And
then make those two things as far apart as you can
get. Everything else just flowed from watching what
happened when I wrote it. If he was also humble, he
could be kind of sad. But he’s clueless as to how
dumb he is. He thinks he’s pretty great [and] doesn’t
feel sorry for himself. And that just made him
more compelling. And then [there are] the
other quirks, like when he speaks and insults
people it’s often from the 19th century.
CC: Will Timmy age?
SP: I’ve never said his age. That’s a [Diary of a
Wimpy Kid author ] Jeff Kinney thing. He came over
and said don’t put a grade or age, or otherwise you
have to explain why he hasn’t moved to the next
grade. So I took that to heart.
CC: Did you have your two children,
Thomas, 15, and Julia, 11, read Timmy?
SP: I not only had them read the book,
I had them read the book with me in the
room. That is so annoying for them. I’d listen for if
they’d laugh, and go, “What part was that? Why did
you laugh?” If they didn’t laugh, I’d go, “What section are you in? You didn’t think that was funny?
That was pretty funny.” It was really annoying; you
don’t want to be my kid.
CC: The second Timmy book is scheduled for
release in February, with a third in the works. How
many will you write?
SP: That’s a good question. I guess until I don’t
find it fun. That’s how I do everything. I’m always just
trying to entertain myself, and hopefully other people
are entertained. When I write, either books or Pearls,
if it’s going well it feels like I’m watching, and it’s exciting to be the first person to see what [Timmy] does.
CC: Pearls Before Swine was first published in
2000. Do you see doing it indefinitely?
SP: Retirement is not in sight. Fifteen years is a
good run. Twenty years is a good run. I could not
do what Peanuts did or what Doonesbury does—
unless I had to. Sometimes you go through weeks
where you don’t know how bad you are. Sometimes
you go through weeks where you don’t know how
good you are. You have no short-term perspective;
long term is crystal clear. As flippant as I am about
it … I have to make it good. C
The Costco
Connection
Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were
Made is available in most
Costco warehouses.
Cartoonist breaks into
world of children’s books
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Tablet or
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Scan or click here for
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