Have you ever found out that someone you used to know (even if only an acquaintance) died, but you didn't know it, so it seems like they just died. It's a strange feeling. Steve Melvin, is/was that someone for me. I will always be grateful to Steve for his patience and kindness when I was just starting out at GoComics and didn't even know how to create a gif. Steve patiently guided me through several technical requirements, things that surely seemed obvious to him but were foreign to me. I remember being so taken with Steve's quiet, patient ways that I wrote a long, impassioned letter to the co-founder and past president of Andrews McMeel Universal, John McMeel. I told him all about Steve and how kindly he treated clueless creators like me. I remember John McMeel writing back to me, obviously pleased that I thought enough about Steve to take the time to write about him.
This wasn't the first time that I've written to a higher-up about something an employee was doing right. People don't hesitate to write letters of complaint, but when is the last time you took the time to write a letter of praise?
Which reminds me, here's someone else, Carl Ferrara, who helped me many times as well.
Enjoy these classic letters of complaint posted by a favorite of mine, Jeff Kay. (I've used quotes by Jeff in my cartoons over the years.)
#FB00011
