Hilarious Fishing Cartoons by John Troy

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is an excellent collection of gags and cartoons involving fishing. Most all expertly artistically executed. Here, I think i know who most major cartoonists are and stumble across this a few weeks ago. Cartoonist Troy seems to keep to himself and not part of any of the cartoonist organizations I’ve been with or know of.

His skill is great. i spotted a number of conscious or unconscious swipes of technique and style of others. To a professional, he does have his weaknesses and some gags are misses.

A tiny quibble is that Troy’s fishing experience seems to be in the northern US. Here, in Florida, we have all sorts of funny instances involving the challenges here.

Overall, this collection is excellent and, at the time should have been in consideration for our National Cartoonists Society. But i was there when this book came out and it wasn’t present. If I had known about it, I would’ve entered it.

I should write, i can’t stand fishing and Love this collection.

Bottom line: I recommend this book. 9 out of 10 points.



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Fun evening with, my pals, Andrea Kuczynski and Caleb, who seems to have seen photos of me before….
Did some live video with more to come in January.

There, as a guest on Andrea’s ‘Voice of Hope’ program, I’ll talk about the mess of my first marriage and the destruction caused by the “Evil One” and where so many involved ended up after. I’m sure to lay out my views of co-dependency, alcohol and drug use and abuse among other subjects along the way. I’ll post a link here after the broadcast.

Asterix and the Chieftain’s Shield by René Goscinny

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Note: I’m trying to read various stories of sequential story telling. Trying to read one a week. This is the first in two months. Oops!

This is a very good story by Goscinny and seems very well drawn. It’s hard to tell. The 2004 hard bound print I have is poorly printed and hard to see and read in places.

The pacing of the story seems at points a bit drawn out, but the conclusion wraps it all nicely. The page layouts are excellent. Design aspects are excellent. Just wish i could see it better. i’ll have to seek a better print.

Bottom line: I recommend this book. 9 out of ten points.



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After working at home today, wandered to a dinner party a bit down the road.

Got to see Sally and Randal White and their two children, who I haven’t seen in three years since the last dinner I attended. Great to see them again! Randal is a celebrity in these parts with his cooking wizardry. They prepared the feast tonight and it blows away the slew of places I’ve recently stopped to review across the state.

Also got to talk to a person important to so many charities and public policy issues in Central Florida, B.J. West. We spoke of mutual and sorely missed friends like Bill Coleman, Andy Serros and Duke Crittenden. Hope to do an oral history of her sometime soon. She’s a 5th generation Floridian who grew up in a one time significant farming community in Lake County.

Putting it all together was Donna Dollar Wilson and Ed Wilson, who did another tremendous job assembling the event!

(My ‘Meow’ cap is to remind folks I’ll be at KittyCon Tampa Bay 2019 November 30th and December 1st.  )

Tomorrow: A trip to Sanford for another meeting! Hope to get a bit of hiking in along the way.

The Warrior by Frank G. Slaughter

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book was given to me by my good friend Whitey Markle. He knew I was a fan of Slaughter’s Florida history books and I didn’t have this one. This one covers the time of the Seminole Indian War along the Ocklawaha River and includes a fictional story with a good deal of what is believed known to have actually to have occurred during the crucial time of the war where Osceola and Seminoles had their major battle with the US military. A few names were changed, but Micanopy, Alligator, Morning Dew, Cooacoochee, Thomas Jesup, etc. are all included. Slaughter well depicts each character as is known about them in real life.

Slaughter takes the history believed to have occurred and, as he has done in so many of his books, strips in a love story and other melodrama to create a compelling book that generally teaches the history and great to read.

At times Slaughter seems to get bogged down and overwrites parts. I’ve found he’s done this in other books. Seems an editor might have stepped in about this. Problem might be that, though over done, the writing is still so superior, it’s hard to request an edit.
Another issue are some glaring inaccuracies. In that this is fiction and Slaughter is trying to create a readable, fictional tale for the general public, that is his trap door to escape out of.

Bottom line: I recommend this book. 8 out of 10 points.



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Death of A Perfect Mother by Robert Barnard

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This doesn’t happen often with me: A book I couldn’t put down. I started the first page and, in between hundreds of miles of driving read this as much as I could. It’s not a dazzling story or full of action and deep mystery. It’s just a tale of a family and anticipation.
The title presumes a story that doesn’t happen as might be expected. That keeps the pages turning.

It’s the writing I loved. Barnard is new to me and I’ve been missing his books for too long. A new search has begun!
I found this very readable with terrific characters. The main character is written with many viewpoints. As the story moves along, what is anticipated becomes more and more intriguing as to how the book might end. All of the characters are given great dimension.
Most books today run 30 or 4 hundred pages with less results. This is a mere 222 page and accomplishes much, much more.
Also excellent setting descriptions.

Bottom line: I recommend this book. 9 out of 10 points.




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Here’s the pencilling part of an illustration I’m working on. Can’t show the rest. A surprise, y’see.

This illustration is of another person who collects elephants. Elephants are a new wide spread collectible. I hear about folks collecting them now more than at anytime in my 40 years asking about collections.

Rarely hear about folks collecting much of anything anymore. Hardly ever hear of folks collecting comics, coins, dolls, etc. Elephants are an exception. Don’t know why.

Hope to show the finished version down the road.

Rob was AWESOME! Very personable and professional. My residents loved him! We will have him back again. Thank you!Review by Tammy D. FROM LARGO, FL ON 9/19/2019

birthday party (adult)

OVERALL  5 out of 5

This experience was far beyond my expectations. All of his pictures told a story about the person he was drawing. I had well over 75 people there and all who wanted to take advantage of this experience were able to. He even stayed a little longer without charge and I certainly appreciated it.Review by Elizabeth W. FROM ORLANDO, FL ON 6/29/2019

rehearsal dinner

OVERALL   5 out of 5

Rob is AMAZING! Everyone was pleased and impressed with his artistry …and their overall interaction with him. Rob is engaging and his eccentricity is absolutely endearing! We look forward to working with Rob again!Review by Ellen H. FROM TAMPA, FL ON 6/28/2019

birthday party (adult)

OVERALL   5 out of 5

Rob was AWESOME!!! Guest loved him so much, they didn’t want him to leave!Review by Alesha M. FROM FORT MYERS, FL ON 5/3/2019

christmas party

OVERALL   5 out of 5

Wonderful evening. He drew all 30 guests and everyone was pleased with the likenesses and the extra touches of adding personalized interests especially for each person. Great personality, so talented and stayed till the very last gues6Review by Denise G. FROM SAFETY HARBOR, FL ON 12/23/2018

wedding reception

OVERALL   5 out of 5

Hired Rob for our Veterans Day wedding & couldn’t have been more pleased. This man is an artist, a storyteller, a novelty, a one in a million entertainer! Our guests are still talking about him to this day & others framed & hung his art in their homes. He moved mountains to make it to us (drove 500+ miles, car broke down, & even had his home robbed!); we are so thankful that he did. His work left our guests amazed, and he provided a “favor” to our guests that cannot be touched by anything that we could write our names and the date on. I would recommend him to ANYONE having a get together, he does amazing work, and has a personality that lights up the entire event!!!(more)Review by Abby M. FROM MYRTLE BEACH, SC ON 11/11/2018

corporate function

OVERALL   5 out of 5

Rob was wonderful at our employee appreciation event on 11/5 & 6. We hired to artist for the two days and they accommodated 151 people on the 5th and 102 on the 6th. They were the hit of the event. I don’t know why we didn’t think of this before this year but we will Defiantly hire them again next year and even for other events we have for fund raising. I recommend these two artist, Rob Smith and Marsha Eaton for any event. They really are a hit and everyone enjoys what they bring to the day. Thank you Rob and MarshaReview by Barbara S. FROM GAINESVILLE, FL ON 11/5/2018

Plunder of the Sun by David Dodge

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


OK cat and mouse caper south of the border. Well crafted with good twists and a satisfying while leaving the trail open for further tales of the main character. Characters well drawn. Locations mostly done well.

Dodge went too far trying to cram spanish language in spots making reading a bit of a stumble at times. Not being a fan of the spanish language, german or french would have been easy to read through.

Bottom line: I recommend this book. 7 out of 10 points.





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Reworking an earlier drawing for one item. I put this together for watercolor. I’ll be doing still another version Wednesday.