1. Phil Frank was an American cartoonist best known as the creator of the political-satirical San Francisco-based comic strip Farley and the artist on nationally syndicated comic strip The Elderberries.
11 Facts About Phil Frank
1. 2.
Phil Frank started cartooning at Michigan State University first by creating illustrations on classmates jackets and then with the university newspaper for $5 a strip.
3.
Phil Frank returned to teach at Michigan State for a few years, during which time his daughter Stacy was born.
4.
Phil Frank started his syndicated comic strip Travels with Farley while he and his second wife, Susan, lived on a house boat in Sausalito, on San Francisco Bay.
5.
When Farley transitioned from a syndicated to a local strip in the San Francisco Chronicle, Phil Frank secured a secret studio atop the Chronicle building where he could covertly create his characters.
6.
Phil Frank had numerous commercial freelance clients, including the San Francisco Giants and Pet Food Express.
7.
Phil Frank created some of the first computer-based clip art, and one of his cartoon bears from Asphalt State Park was sold as a popular stuffed animal at California's State Parks alongside his Farley books.
8.
Phil Frank was well known in his home community of Sausalito and served on its Historical Society.
9.
An avid classic car enthusiast since he was a child, Phil Frank restored an Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV, seven Ford Model As, two MG TCs, an MG SA Tickford Drophead, and a Jaguar MKII.
10.
Phil Frank announced his retirement for health reasons on September 7,2007 and died shortly thereafter in Bolinas, California.
11.
Phil Frank had been suffering from a brain tumor for months before and was gravely ill at the time of the announcement.