Stories from Gary Ibsen

Really Fit for an Old Man

"As an older man now
My view of aging in life has changed.
No longer something to be feared
Disregarded, or rearranged.
No loss of youth or opportunity or time...
Fitness not defined by physical strength,
Fitting in, reason nor rhyme,
Opinions of others, nor seeking approval.

Now, aging is less about time and more about being.
I've forgiven the audacity of my youth.
My life as a younger man in love,
As a crusader in recovery
From original loss above,
Was an extended prelude to who I was to be.
It was woman who discovered me,
Woman who released me
From being a victim of false conception.
It was woman who led me
Into aging gracefully." - Gary Ibsen,

In the early nineties I introduced myself to famed cartoonist, Eldon Dedini (1921-2006) at his home in Carmel, California. I had known of his work for many years, respected him greatly and hoped to interest him in contributing his cartoons in my magazine, Adventures In Dining. His wife, Virginia, brought me coffee in Eldon's studio. We sat facing one another surrounded by stacked magazines on the floor adjacent to his drawing table. He was gracious and inviting.

"My Gut Feeling Says it's the Guy on the Left"
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I requested of him an original cartoon to be featured in each publication. He said he wasn't really interested. He was too busy providing work to New Yorker, Esquire and Playboy magazines. However, following another coffee, some further discussion about my life, my interest in educating our readers about food and wine and a promise to feature his cartoons as a full-page feature called, 'Cordially Yours,' ( Note: he had never been offered by any publication a full page to feature his cartoons) he presented me a gift of a cartoon he had sketched of a centaur (half horse-half man) carrying a woman on his back, jokingly commenting the caption, "Hey, You're Really Fit For An Old Man."

He agreed to provide me a cartoon for each edition of the magazine. However, he was not sure if he could come up with a cartoon that would carry a theme of dining, but he would try. Every three months I would meet him in his studio. He would show me several ideas he sketched out and he asked me to select the one I liked.

"I've Changed My Mind.
I'll have Beef Wellington"
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The Great Cannery Row Reunion Poster 1983
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Waiter Talking with Chef
"And I Didn't Get a Tip"
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Man on Bench Feeding Crab
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A Tribute to Julia Child for her 80th Birthday
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Over the years he also generously accepted my request to come up with an illustration for Julia Child's 80th Birthday Celebration and a poster for 'The Great Cannery Row Reunion,' held in 1983. The last being a project of particular interest to Dedini because he was one of the few remaining members of the Doc Ricketts' Lab "Men's Group." Doc Ricketts' Lab, on Cannery Row, was once the laboratory and home of scientist, Ed Ricketts, made famous by John Steinbeck. (The two became friends while living in Pacific Grove and Steinbeck worked for a bit in the lab examining marine specimens and discussing philosophy with Ricketts.) I was fortunate to have been invited several times by former owner/member, Frank Wright, to join the members of Doc Ricketts' Lab "Men's Group" for socializing, wine, classical music and often philosophical conversations. These gatherings eventually spawned the idea for what would eventually become the Monterey Jazz Festival.

Frank Wright and Greg Cole
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I reviewed the preliminary sketches for the poster in Dedini's studio and the kid in the foreground was his interpretation of my eldest son, Leif, who I had described to him earlier. The personalities characterized in the painting were a wide variety of the people from Cannery Row.

I used to own the original art for this poster but years ago I sold it to help pay for medical expenses. Years later, I was presented the same poster that belonged to Frank Wright, the last of the surviving trio of men who bought Ed Ricketts' lab in 1958, who died in 2017 at the age of 98, as a gift of his friendship. Greg Cole, a dear friend of mine and Frank Wright, orchestrated the presentation of this gift to me.

Dedini became, and died, a treasured friend of mine. His cartoons spoke of a sincere enjoyment of life and our foibles philosophy

Eldon Dedini Bio:
"Dedini started out as a staff cartoonist at Esquire in 1942, before coming to Hollywood to work in animation. He was a storyboard artist at Universal for a few years in the mid-1940s, and joined Disney as a story artist on "Mickey & the Beanstalk", "Ichabod and Mr Toad" and several Donald Duck shorts. He continued to do cartoons for Esquire during this period, and moved to the New Yorker in 1950. He began contributing cartoons to Playboy in 1960 where he became one of their most distinctive cartoonists. He was named best magazine cartoonist by the National Cartoonists Society in 1958, 1961, 1964, and 1989. Dedini passed away in 2006."