Jim Davis
Creator of Garfield, Now Read By Over 263 Million Readers Around the Globe
Jim Davis’ presentations combine the wit and humor of a cartoonist and the savvy of an international businessman who has made sure his character is known and loved around the world. Jim Davis was born July 28, 1945, in Marion, Ind., and was raised on a small Black Angus cow farm with his parents, James and Betty, and his younger brother, Dave (Doc). As on most farms, the barnyard had its share of stray cats – about 25 at one time, by Jim’s estimation. Jim thinks he probably would have become a …
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Jim Davis’ presentations combine the wit and humor of a cartoonist and the savvy of an international businessman who has made sure his character is known and loved around the world.
Jim Davis was born July 28, 1945, in Marion, Ind., and was raised on a small Black Angus cow farm with his parents, James and Betty, and his younger brother, Dave (Doc). As on most farms, the barnyard had its share of stray cats – about 25 at one time, by Jim’s estimation.
Jim thinks he probably would have become a farmer had it not been for his serious bouts of asthma as a child. Forced inside, away from regular farm chores, he whiled away the hours drawing pictures. His pictures were so bad he had to label them. With practice, he got better, but Jim concluded that pictures accompanied by words were more fun anyway.
By junior high school, his asthma was in check, and Jim Davis even went on to letter in high school football. Later, he attended Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., where he majored in art, business and practical jokes.
After college, Jim Davis spent two years working for a local advertising agency before becoming an assistant to Tumbleweeds creator Tom Ryan. Jim learned the skills and discipline necessary to become a syndicated cartoonist and began his own strip, Gnorm Gnat. When he tried to sell the strip to a newspaper syndicate, he was told: “It’s funny, but bugs? Who can relate to a bug?” After five years of drawing Gnorm, Jim drew a giant foot that fell out of the sky, crushing Gnorm in his last comic appearance.
Jim studied the comics pages very closely and noticed there were a lot of successful strips about dogs, but none about cats. He combined his wry wit with the art skills he had honed since childhood, and Garfield, a fat, lazy, lasagna-loving, cynical cat, was born. Jim Davis says Garfield is a composite of all the cats he remembered from his childhood, rolled into one feisty orange fur ball. Garfield was named after Jim’s cantankerous grandfather, James Garfield Davis.
The strip debuted on June 19, 1978, in 41 U.S. newspapers. Several months after the launch, the Chicago Sun-Times canceled Garfield. More than 1,300 angry readers demanded that Garfield be reinstated. It was, and the rest, as they say, is history. Today, Garfield is read in 2,600 newspapers by 263 million readers around the globe.
Jim Davis has had many successes with Garfield, including four Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated Program and induction into the Licensing Hall of Fame (1998), but his most prized awards are from his peers in the National Cartoonists Society: Best Humor Strip (1981 and 1985), the Elzie Segar Award (1990) and the coveted Reuben Award (1990) for overall cartooning.
Jim Davis is founder and president of Paws, Inc., a full-service licensing studio created to support Garfield’s global business ventures.
Testimonials
Ernie was perfect for our Elders Conference at Little River Casino Resort in Manistee, Michigan. We will definitely be using PDA again!
LITTLE RIVER BAND OF OTTAWA INDIANS
Our speaker was great and the crowd enjoyed her! She was very engaging. Thank you again PDA for the great list of suggestions!
MEDTRONIC
Everything went great! and our speaker was wonderful! Thank you so much for all your help PDA! Looking forward to the next one.
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI – KANSAS CITY
I hope that this message finds you well. We had a phenomenal time with Atsuko this past Thursday. We wanted to just let you know how amazing she was. All those that were in attendance thoroughly enjoyed her and had nothing but amazing things to say about her. Thank you for working with us to make sure this happened!
BAYLOR UNIVERSITY CAMPUS
We had a fantastic day with Inge! She was very engaging with all those that attended. Her personal stories about the holocaust were very special and we were moved that she was willing to share them with everyone. Thank you again, PDA for all your hard work and dedication to make this program such a success!
SALT LAKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Dear PDA Group, Thank you so much for your hard work in scheduling our speaker! From the moment we reached out to you the first time, you worked with us on all details and logistics and kept us up-to-date on the progress. Thank you for all your hard work on making our event such a success! We couldn't have done it without you and your team!
SAP COMPANY
Thank you again, Dr. Kimbrough, for a great presentation, our attendees are still talking about it!
CAMPUS LABS
Dr. Henry Lee's presentation was entertaining, insightful and wise. I, and everyone at Pfizer, especially appreciate the remarks you directed about following your passion and preparing yourself to excel. Thank you, everyone, at PDA for helping to make this happen!
PFIZER
The event was successful! I received many messages expressing how awesome, outstanding and inspiring Ms. Webb-Christburg's speech was."
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. MEMORIAL BREAKFAST, BOSTON, MLK SPEAKER
Everything went well. Atsuko was very easy to work with and the students enjoyed her performance! Thank you again for your recommendation and I hope to work with you again in the future!
CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
Dr. Novello left this morning after a very successful event on our campus! Thank you PDA Group for your help from the first phone to the last you were with us every step of the way.
GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY
Jordan Carlos was very very entertaining! A majority of students who answered the event survey indicated they really enjoyed Jordan and definitely will bring him back!
WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY
On behalf of myself and my organization Entertainment Unlimited the Campus Programming Board of Ferris State University, we thank you PDA and Dan for a successful event!! Dan was magnificent! Students really enjoyed the presentation. I know I did. Can't wait to bring in more programs with PDA Group.
FERRIS STATE UNIVERSITY
It was a great pleasure to work with PDA Group! The communication was always prompt, friendly and helpful. We loved the speakers and events we booked through Mr. Peter Walker (PDA Group).
WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
Thank you, Peter, for all your help, you'll be happy to know that the event went incredibly well! Aneesa Ferreira was by far one of the best speakers we've ever had!
FURMAN UNIVERSITY
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