I found out last night that Nick Cardy passed away. I’m saddened to hear about this, not that I knew him all that well. But I did pass some time with him at a number of conventions.
Several years ago Shelton Drum started seating me with “the old guys” at Heroes Convention. I didn’t mind a bit. These guys were my heroes since I was a little kid and one year I got seated next to Nick Cardy.
That particular weekend my wife and I had misunderstood a message from her brother and he, his wife and five kids were coming to visit at that same time. Well, I had to go to the show, but Karin packed me a big container of oatmeal raisin cookies to eat while I was away–and to share with friends. Like Nick Cardy. I offered him a cookie and he politely declined at first.
We struck up a conversation and he started calling me “Jel” because that’s what my signature looks like on the artwork I display.
I was doing my best not to spend too much at the show, and so when lunchtime came around and someone brought two Arby’s sandwiches for Nick he said to me, “I can’t eat all this! Here, you take one of these sandwiches!”
Later on during the show, he needed to take some medication, but didn’t want to on an empty stomach. He called to me, “Hey Jel! Can I have one of those cookies?”
“Sure, I’ll share my cookies with Nick Cardy any day!” I was happy to do it. And I have to admit I bragged to all my friends about it for days afterward.
So while all the other artists out there are blogging about how they were inspired by Nick’s approach to comic art, I get to say that I shared a sandwich and cookies with Nick Cardy. It’s not that I’m not inspired by Nick’s work–very much so, actually–but it’s just so cool to be able to say that we had a personal moment. I’ll always remember that.
The Light of Day 