A Letter from Gluyas Williams to Tom Sanders

In 1932, a fan named Tom Sanders, interested, apparently, in becoming a cartoonist, requested an autograph from Gluyas Williams, one of the most technically skilled artists working for Harold Ross's New Yorker. Williams responded to the request with an ALS written on his Boston stationery. It was sold in September on eBay.

For what it's worth, numerous closeups of handwritten letters don't really help:

And the verso:

Gluyas Williams
eBay listing ended September 13, 2024

https://www.ebay.com/itm/166926813309?_skw=signed+Yorker&itmmeta=01JEMDPB7E7H24N1XTSME6NSDQ&hash=item26dd9d087d:g:x8UAAOSw9ptmw1oh&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA8HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKmjdcZXuAzwldE

J0RNEU8E3bRVz7eS7mW8oJNReIWcUuw64kQM%2BP0%2FAw0l2Zz3U3mc0s0TKG786m18C%2FZkiQgHH1zj%2F51g3zABJbN67liyQSiqLPj6GtR8G6Xge%2FvxSglNvJLF3D0TbheCmalpvPOIDQCe5yszhdKslrtR%2B2SJiA

9lZXOem4nS0hFlZGXTHdTVpMWkv%2B1rswOIu5XW8F%2FIt1U0TBjd7y8Uimn2cMwkCm1lEN5myMpsEj0BRZ18zhZuUeefA9rhN4YhTLrZ7PA6aqA9U6zgUt5q%2Ff2Aaf2Q5%2BA%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR_Kz2Y31ZA

Note:  If this letter looks familiar, that may be because it was featured on Ink Spill's post of September 17, 2024, complete with transcription and a better photo: https://michaelmaslin.com/tuesday-spill-an-art-spiegelman-documentary-gluyas-williams-on-being-a-cartoonist-its-lots-of-fun-at-times/

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Eldon Dedini on the Future of Cartooning

A 1996 letter from cartoonist Eldon Dedini (1921-2006) to California school teacher Bruce Becker (1930-2022) gets right to the heart of Dedini's attitude toward his craft. Unfortunately, we don't have Becker's original letter that prompted this fascinating response. Apparently, some of Becker's students expressed doubts about cartooning as a profession, feeling "society places little importance in cartooning," much of the great work has already been done, and thus the the profession may not have a great future and its practitioners may not meet with financial success. Dedini's response is more than thoughtful; it seems to reflect a career's worth of rumination about his art form. The letter is just too good to paraphrase:

Eldon Dedini
eBay listing accessed April 28, 2023

https://www.ebay.com/itm/295105388401?hash=item44b5a6df71:g:kSQAAOSwcFNi2XIp&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4I%2Be0gEPP4bh9F0gXJVppnSFDQkqnUNH8nVjM6ymFR9lWug5D6dqE6JtvPKPD55rVN%2Bi1Vghj0ogEQiTN3FqrOQku7J0tLk2F1vEBPd8Ya%2FrrYbu1lAcE3

EF5UZKBeDYuWEa1xbd7AOXPMefEnMkMY9Be08xBi7Z7fMFpjiXcYaX4TKQq9C9JUS8Kzo%2B0OkyDvZrUL31lA7KJInERCeELF5QuHItdoqKkNrjVwik8RAo03E8rPRb9Dpw2JizAqsYIk00g2RDwWkT2iw%2BHlKT%2BGOgQzFp1AqdECN8fmMLbnM3%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR4Smz6v5YQ

Eldon Dedini
eBay item description 

Note:  At post time, this inspiring note is still available on eBay. I have seen few letters from cartoonists that do such a fine job of articulating a philosophy of cartooning. Perhaps readers would like to share other correspondence of this sort here. This is your blog too, you know.

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