Jim Ivey’s 96th Birthday is Coming! Want to Help Celebrate It?
That’s my buddy, Jim Ivey. If you’ve been a reader here for any length of time you’ve probably read about Jim. For the last couple of decades, I’ve gotten a group of Jim Ivey’s friends together twice a year to celebrate Jim (at his birthday and Christmas). We’d meet at a breakfast location for a marathon session of stories, remembrances and gifts for Jim. We were unable to meet last year due to the Covid pandemic.
Jim’s 96th birthday is on April 15th. If you would like to send a birthday card, that would be awesome. I’ll send out all cards received. Please try to get the cards to me by April 6th, so Jim gets them by his birthday. You can also contact me on Facebook or Twitter. I would love for Jim to be surprised with many cards from his friends.
I first met Mr. Ivey back in 1977. He was the owner of The Cartoon Museum in Orlando, Florida.
The Cartoon Museum was stuffed wall-to-wall with original art from around the world. The art spanned the gamut from comic book to comic strip to political cartoons to magazine illustrations. Jim had over 100,000 comic books and magazines for sale. You could find comic book scripts and autographs, and well, you get the idea. Plus you never knew who would be passing through. It could be a famous comic book or magazine illustrator, a political or newspaper cartoonist and even a couple of times famous faces from movies or tv.
Jim was also one of the founding members of Orlando Con. Orlando Con was held yearly and attracted cartoonists from around the country plus a movie/tv star or two. Guests included Joe Kubert, Wil Eisner, C.C. Beck, Hal Foster, Roy Crane, Jack Davis, Harvey Kurtzman, Robert Cummings, Jock Mahoney and many, many others.
Jim was also a political cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle and the Orlando Sentinel. He was the creator of the Thoughts of Man cartoon that ran in newspapers throughout the country. Jim was the publisher of cARTtoon, a quarterly magazine. And that’s just an overview of some of the many accomplishments of Jim Ivey.
Hi Craig, Is Jim still around this year? I knew him back in the mid 1980s to late 1990s as I lived in Orlando then. He may remember me as Bruce, aka “Quasar Comics”. I’d love to send him a birthday card this year and even pay him a visit, I’ll likely be in Orlando in mid-March. Cheers, Bruce
Jim is still around. He loves hearing from old friends, but doesn’t respond as much as he used to. We’ll do a get-together for Jim for his birthday in April and if you’re able to make it you would be invited.