|
Early fan.....Tom Ovens, Los Gatos,
CA
"I'm one of your "fans" from the days of
the Rick O'Shay strip. Starting in high school and
continuing through college, I started snipping the
Sundays and have a few manila envelopes full of elk
hunts, fun, philosophy, and just plain
decency.
I discovered one of your books of
reprints in Scotland, of all places, last year and
finally have gotten around to ordering.
As far as the complete strips go, I
particularly await the time when the strip gets set
100 years ago. I was never comfortable with the
inherent "cuteness" that the present seemed to
demand. The characters were too good to be out of
their element."
European based
collector...Heinz-George Haendl
(e-mail)
"From your name, I guess I have reached
the Lynde-clan itself; if so please forward by best
wishes to Stan. As a European based collector, I
have always been confronted with a strange
phenomenon: The western genre was never as dominant
in the US comics as I would have expected; the only
great strips were done by Warren Tuffts and a
certain Stan Lynde. In the comic books (e.g.
Marvel's Rawhide Kid, Two Gun Kid,...), western
were mostly cross-bred with the superhero-genre. In
Europe (especially in France/Belgium), the
western-genre was always well represented"...
(examples).... "The only explanation for said
phenomenon might be that the western was exploited
by Hollywood (and later the TV) to such a degree
that it never made it big into the "funny
pages".
Special sharing time.....J. M.
"Kokomo" Balatoni (e-mail)
"Just wanted to say thanks for the hours
of enjoyment of reading your Rick O'shay and Jordan
Rivers (LATIGO) from the LA Times in the `60's.
Looked forward to it daily and really liked the
fine artwork and characterizations. It was my dad's
favorite comic strip because of the western theme,
I guess. Dad's passed on for some years now but he
would have gotten a kick out of seeing a Rick
O'Shay website on the computer...something he was
meaning to get into. Having a common love for "Rick
O'Shay" was a little thing that brought us closer
together in a time when not much did."
Belated fan letter.....Teddy Keller,
Laurinburg, NC
"Dear Stan: My study's not really that
cluttered, but the WWA Roundup of last August, with
the piece about you, got itself piled upon and I
only now rediscovered it. This event coincided with
Ora's digging through boxes of vital stuff I hadn't
seen in years, and finding the comic section from
the Sunday L. A. Times of December 21, 1975. Well,
a writer's wife has to know where to start the
thinning process in preparation for the overdue
move back to the West. But at the same time I was
reminded how much I miss Rick and Hipshot and all
the other folks and critters of the
invention.
My recollection is a bit fuzzy on which
came first. But I think it was during my Hollywood
phase when I discovered Rick O'Shay, and I was
annoyed that, back home in Denver, the Post hadn't
been running the strip. For years I had to track
down the Sunday L.A. paper to find Rick and
friends.
I had become an instant fan. Your art
work was accurate and moody and intelligent and
appropriate and fun and stylist in the best sense
of the word. The dialogue and story lines
were...well, all those attributes listed above.
There was throughout a sneaky and homey humor that
set your characters apart from the other strips.
You even dared, as in that Christmas strip from
twenty-plus years ago, to add a spiritual
significance, and to always project something of
the human values we recognized in the
West.
Later, I think it was in Albuquerque, I
enjoyed LATIGO for a much too brief time. When that
strip disappeared, I doubted that I'd ever see a
comic page with wit, artistry and integrity, all in
one swell foop. I still haven't."
|
|
Disappointed.....Alvin D. Andre
(e-mail) Orlando, FL
I was a fan of Rick O'Shay for years
when it was carried here by the Orlando Sentinel. I
remember being very disappointed when another
artist started doing the strip. I learned later,
through a Univ. of Central Florida journalism class
on cartooning how the syndicate gave the strip to
another person when (according to my source) Stan
decided not to do the strip daily. My source was
Jim Ivey, then curator of a small Cartoon Museum
here in Orlando. FL."
Husband is a pastor.....Deanna Leslie
(e-mail) Belding, MI
"I've enjoyed your page!! My husband is
a pastor in Belding, MI right now but we spent the
first 15 years of our ministry in Ennis, MT. I have
a couple of the original comic strips framed and
hanging in his office! He really appreciated the
one where the minister was painting the church one
day, riding through a blizzard to help a church
member on his sick bed and so on...then Sunday
morning someone shakes hands with him and says, "It
must be nice just working one day a week!
My other favorite was Christmas...the
promise, and Easter...the proof."
Lost....but found....Chris
Hatzipanagiotis, Woosung, IL (4/28/97)
"I have in my hand a flyer (the one you
sent me) about the "Rick O'Shay" Dailies:
1963-1964". It was received on Sept. 11, 1996 and I
made sure it was in a place in the open and on top
of things so I wouldn't forget it. Ha! Ha! I found
it a while ago and wondered how I left it in the
open and still forgot it. I just wanted you to know
that; as soon as I can, I'll order 1963-64 "Rick"
Dailies and NO, I haven't forgotten the wonderful
town of Conniption, nor its colorful residents. And
thank you, keep up the continuing good (and
improving) work in words and in pictures. I will
have to ask you to advise as to prices, since it is
past the sale dates ju-u-ust a tetch. I've enjoyed
the other books (Rick, Latigo, etc.) immensely. I
hope and pray the good Lord will continue to rain
his blessings on you--it shows greatly in your
works, Mr. Lynde. Our friend Gomer Pyle put it
quite well, I think: Too whit, `Thank ye, thank ye,
thank ye!'...or words to that effect."
Memories....74 years....Barbara
Devey, Paradise, CA
"I'm not much for fan letters--and here
I am writing my second one in all my life--74
years" (the first to Stan in 1970 to which he
answered in 1974!).......
"Dennis couldn't make it home for
Christmas this year, but one of the gifts he sent
has prompted this letter What feelings of nostalgia
came over me when I opened the package. There was
our friend Hipshot staring back at me from the
cover of your book, Rick O'Shay, Hipshot and Me!
It was a real jolt in the heart--the
memories were overwhelming--all those mornings when
my young boy would hurry out to get the paper, and
over the breakfast table we would read and discuss
the latest happenings in Conniption.
All of the characters were wonderful and
they all came alive for us, but we were always
particularly interested in the adventures of
Hipshot. What smiles, chuckles, and yes--lessons
learned. He was truly our gentleman hero! P.S.
Dennis says "Hipshot has `class'!"
Letter to our new distributor)...Jean
McDaniel 5/15/97
Dear Mountain Press....
"I'm so glad to have your catalog--I
thought Rick O'Shay and Hipshot and Belle Starr
were long forgotten. They were my favorite comic
strip for many years. So you can see how delighted
I was to open your catalog and find my old friends
there.
They (the Rick O'Shay strips) are not
available in local book stores here."
Compliment...Claire Beorn Norman
(e-mail) Scotts Valley, CA
"My local paper stopped running Rick
O'Shay sometime in the sixties. But even today,
when I'm asked to state my religion, all I have to
do is describe the "Sorry I'm late, Boss" Easter
strip to feel I've stated my beliefs perfectly.
Thank you for giving me an image that
defines so much of my life."
|
