If memory serves me, I first met Peter back in the mid-'70s when I took on the role of art director at the Canadian university-targeted freebie quarterly 'mag', "Like It Is".
From the very get-go, I discovered that Peter was hard NOT to like. He was clearly a big teddy bear of a guy w/a quick wit, a native intelligence, a born problem solvers curious mind, and someone who truly relished life to the fullest---from sports (hockey, golf, football), to good food, to a good read, to various potent potables (OK beer. HA!)------ mostly in the company of his close 'buds'.
Peter was mainly a writer at "Like it Is" (as well as a key distribution-team player out on the campus hustings), and I had the good fortune to illustrate several of his fine pieces of prose over the years. He was very astute at giving me suggestions on how I might want to approach a particular 'illo', and I would, on occasion, follow his lead. Although not an artist, per se, Peter had a natural instinct for what looked good on the printed page.
Looking back, I'm pretty sure Peter pulled a few management strings over at the weekly Richmond Hill "North Star" (later morphing into "The Liberal"), while he was a regular columnist at the paper back in the mid-to-late '70s. Thru Peter, I wrangled an almost four year stint as their regular editorial cartoonist, contributing a single paneled topical cartoon each week.
Ironically, when I came out to L.A. in April of 1979 to pitch my art portfolio to the creative director at Hanna Barbera Studios, Iawo Takamoto, and layout supervisor, Bob Singer, they both were taken by my "North Star"/"Liberal"character treatment and my fluid brush & ink style. Long story short, I got the job w/ H&B, eventually starting in late June of '79, and as they say, the rest is history. Almost a thirty year career in TV animation ensued, and in some ways I have to thank Peter for getting the ball rolling.
Peter and I kind of stayed in touch in the very early '80s when he was working for CIPS (The Canadian Information Society), and he was generous enough to commission at least three cover illustrations for their magazine while I was basically just settling into the Hollywood animation biz here in L.A. . What really blew me away was how Peter, back in Toronto, deftly managed to add the feature article headline type, and bullet points usually in a very readable san serif bold face type, that was generally underplayed in a reversed-out-of-solid-color approach, or was anchored just perfectly within the negative white space of my illustration, as if it always just belonged there. As I said earlier, Peter had a keen eye for graphics, and had an uncanny instinct for what worked, and what didn't.
Peter and I last saw each other back in the mid-'90s when he flew out to L.A. for , as I recall, some kind of voice-recognition tech expo/convention. We rendezvoused for drinks in the early evening at the storied downtown Biltmore Hotel, and had a great time catching up on our lives, and sharing a few laughs, to boot. It was definitely too short a visit, and I wished he could have spent a few more days in town.
When Shaun (McLaughlin) e-mailed me almost two weeks ago w/ the horrible news of Peter's passing I was both shocked and saddened. Peter lived his life to the fullest, and IMO, despite the travails and challenges he faced, appeared to be ever the eternal optimist.
He touched, and in his own way, informally mentored by example so many folk in his 56 years on the planet. He will live on in our (now heavy) hearts, and fond memories.
I send my deepest sympathies and healing thoughts out to all of Peter's immediate family, and all those who knew Peter for the great human being he truly was.
ALEX
No comments:
Post a Comment