'Farley' creator fills library

By CARLOS VILLATORO, Register Staff Writer

Over 50 people got the unique opportunity to meet nationally-syndicated cartoonist Phil Frank at Napa County Library Sunday afternoon. Frank is most famous for long-running comic strip "Farley" that introduced legions of loyal readers to Frank's mad-cap crew of characters.

Friends of the Napa City-County Library brought Farley to Napa to speak, share the stories behind his character and sign copies of his books.

"This is our first attempt at something very unusual," said Mike Joell, event organizer. "Phil Frank is a friend of the library and encourages reading in his own way."

Farley, the strip's main character who bares a striking resemblance to his creator, has evolved quite a bit since he was created in 1975, Frank said. The comic strip was originally called "Travels with Farley."

"Farley was a kind of a wandering individual who was going from place to place as an interesting way for me to talk about interesting things in the United States," Frank said.

That concept of Farley worked well for a bit, but then Frank said he started getting letters asking what Farley did for a living and how he was able to maintain his vagabond lifestyle.

"One (person) thought he was selling drugs," Frank said. "Another thought he spent money from a trust fund."

After receiving numerous inquiries about Farley's source of income, Frank turned him into a park ranger for Ashpalt State Park, tallying another similarity between character and creator. Frank worked as a ranger for Yosemite National Park and also serves on the board of Yosemite Association.

The character made another career move in 1985 when Frank decided to sell the comic strip to the San Francisco Chronicle and focus on the issues and happenings in San Francisco and Marin Counties. Together, with his pet raven Bruce, Farley took a job as news reporter and shacked up in a small apartment south of Market Street in San Francisco. Frank also changed the name of the strip to "Farley."

Throughout the years, Frank used the Farley character to introduce fans to a variety of characters including bears Brunhilda and Alphonse who help run Farley's fictional Fog City Dumpster restaurant; Velma Melmac, who cleans camp sites with a vacuum cleaner and wages war on dirt; wily feral cats that live in Golden Gate Park; and a group of feral pigs that bathe in San Francisco and Marin Counties water supply.

Recently, Frank began drawing "Elderberries," a comic strip that takes a look at aging through the eyes of a group of independent elders living in "Elderpark ... A Good Place To Park Your Elder."

Frank's characters are not all of the fictional kind. In fact, some of his most beloved characters are derived from real people. There's His Williness, former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, Baba Rebop who Frank named after a man he tracked down in Lake County to buy a house boat from, and Professor Bassett, a retired English professor that Frank is friends with.

Frank's "Farley" pokes fun at everything from regional issues to real-life experiences he's had as a park ranger for Yosemite National Park. While patrolling the park for bears Frank tried to curb car break ins by creating a comic that playfully poked fun at the way bears sees cars.

In the comic strip a bear tells readers that leaving food in their cars is a big mistake and that bears see cars as a large food cans that can be opened with their paws.

For many people at the event, hearing Frank speak about his characters was a dream come true.

"I think he's delightful," said Sarah Stephens.

Stephens said she's been reading "Farley" since it was created. Another longtime "Farley" fan, Frances Elliott, of Calistoga, has been in contact with Frank via e-mail for about 10 years. Sunday's event was the first time she's seen Frank in person, she said.

Frank lives in Sausilito with his wife of over 30 years. He holds an office at the San Francisco Chronicle, but does most of his drawing aboard his 1880s ferryboat docked in Sausilito.

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