Grady's birthday, Grady's humor

Birthday cards, Christmas cards, baby shower announcements ... if you could get Grady Myers to illustrate one of those, you had a treasure in your hands. The guy had a real sense of whimsy and was generous when friends came asking for him to illustrate this or that poster, card or souvenir for them. One especially popular item was the annual T-shirt he designed for the Bare Buns Fun Run.

Grady was a newspaper artist for much of his career. So he loved the fake headline/news story approach. Using a picture snapped by a friend, he created this fun story shortly after his 54th birthday. this was during the years he worked for the U.S. Forest Service. The "NIC" mentioned in the caption is North Idaho College.

Grady would have been 65 years old today. For those of us missing his over-sized spirit and talent, it is some consolation that we had him around until he was 61. Because he came awfully close to dying as a young soldier in Vietnam. That ambush chapter is the most intense part of his memoir, "Boocoo Dinky Dow." The book has some funny moments, too. If you've read his description of the comely United Airlines attendants who were on his flight to Vietnam, you won't be surprised by the "lovelies" he chose for this picture.

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