Jim Ivey was at a comic convention I was at in Tampa this past Sunday, August 20th. I hadn’t seen him in about a year.

Jim had a place called the Cartoon Museum on S. Semoran Boulevard in Orange County, Florida back in the ’70s and ’80s. This was after his stint as editorial cartoonist for the St. Petersburg Times and The Orlando Sentinal Star. He had artwork and comics at his establishment. His place was the precursor to the diract comic book stores that started popping open in the early ’80s.

Jim also taught how-to-cartoon classes there. My elementary art school teacher, Nancy Ingle, paid for me to go to those classes. Also teaching was the great Dick Hodgins. Hodgins had been working at the Sentinel, amongst many other cartoon jobs. I got quite a bit out of those classes.

My mother and sister and I would take a bus out to the cartoon museum and we would go through the different comics and talk to Jim as he puffed on his regulatory cee-gar. Jim was and is a very generous person and would always give us something. Being as poor as we were we appreciated being given things.

AS I got older and got into the caricature and freelance business, I returned and bought comics and original artwork from Jim. Also at that time the poker sessions were happening. The young artist John Beatty and Craig Zablo would hang out there.

Recently I reacquainted myself with John through his new and great ‘Sketch Society’ in Daytona Beach. See moe here: http://www.sketchsociety.blogspot.com/. Over the years I’ve kept in contact with Craig in one for or another. Mostly through contributing Sylvester Stallone caricatures to his fantastic StalloneZone website. http://www.stallonezone.com/ . Both John and Craig were there in Tampa with Jim Ivey. It was like a trip to the past!

Jim is in full retirement mode and he’ll take the time out and attend an occasional con. I just hope young people will take the time to learn much from this very knowledgable and artistic fellow!!!

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