I recently interviewed former Murder, She Wrote head writer Thomas B. Sawyer. If you haven’t watched that interview, go check it out. Among the many topics we discussed, we talked about his new book, The Art of the Real Tom Sawyer. Below is my video review of this book, so you can see what’s inside. Enjoy!
Book Review
Publisher’s Summary
The story of one of America’s most prolific, respected illustrators… who few people ever heard of – until now.
For decades, Thomas B. Sawyer created countless high-energy images of “happy people with happy problems” that appeared in every imaginable venue, from the nation’s biggest newspapers and magazines to TV to local church bulletins. His artwork graced the country’s biggest billboards, and refrigerator-magnets. Among his peers, his work was collected and studied. Fellow professionals hoarded every example they could find, wondering who this remarkable, largely anonymous artist could be.
At last, the truth is revealed. Journey through the nearly thirty years of Sawyer’s first profession (in his mid-40’s, he abruptly abandoned illustration, becoming an award-winning filmmaker and TV showrunner/screenwriter) as you marvel at hundreds of his illustrations, meticulously reproduced, many shot from his original art. As a bonus, each chapter of Sawyer’s art-career, beginning with his work for Stan Lee, and ghosting of famous comic-strips, is narrated by the artist himself, providing fascinating insights into his life and the New York City commercial art industry he experienced during the heady days of the “Madmen” era.
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It was my privilege and pleasure to have known Tom (nee) Scheuer when we were in high school on Chicago’s South Side: he at Hyde Park, I at U-High and Mount Carmel–but we got together Saturday mornings in Martin Garrity’s cartooning class at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. Tom already had begun to exhibit the impressive talent that resulted in the incredible illustrations in this book. Somehow, we have managed to stay in contact over the years. And interestingly, we both drifted away from art careers and into writing careers: Tom (now) Sawyer for TV, me for books and magazines. Good to have known you, Tom.