Tag Archive for: Brad Gilchrist

I’m not sure how the idea of writing each other’s bios came up. Perhaps it’s just that neither one of us likes talking about ourselves? Here it goes, Peter… if I go on too long, it’s just my way of getting even for your two-hour marathon phone calls…

I first met Peter in New York at the 2000 Reuben Awards (the cartoonists’ equivalent of the Oscars). Peter was a new acquaintance of my best friend Mark Brewer, and we instantly hit it off. After the awards ceremony, we hung out in a bar at the World Trade Center. We spent many hours talking about baseball, the Zen of installing ceramic tile, comic strips, passive solar homes, philosophy, and the overwhelming feeling that we had met in a Turkish prison sometime in a previous life. I’m making up the part about the previous life, but it did sort of feel that way and I’m pretty sure the bartender was Turkish. Or maybe I’d had a turkey sandwich for lunch. I can’t remember. . .

I recall feeling a little bit jealous of Peter’s good looks, athletic physique, tai chi moves, baseball prowess, and total recall of great philosophical quotations (I didn’t even know what an incredible artist he is yet!). Eventually, the fact that I was syndicated, writing a national feature, and had worked with Jim Henson offset all of Peter’s annoying attributes. Then I found out that he got to use Charles Schulz’s baseball glove earlier that day in a cartoonist baseball game.

I was jealous again.

One of the topics that took Peter, Mark and me deep into a night of discussion was a comic strip idea of mine. Back then it was called Down To Earth, and it has since evolved into The Green House. Mark and I were considering working on it together, and I could see that Peter was intrigued with the concept. You see, Peter’s into all kinds of new age, hippie, karma, vegan, tree-hugging kinds of stuff… and I was just entering the realm of serious, environmental consciousness. I could see that Peter was a little envious of Mark’s participation in the budding strip. Ha! One for my side!

Oops. I almost forgot. This is supposed to be Peter’s bio.

Peter draws really amazing, soulful caricatures. He has drawn editorial cartoons for the Hull Times, a South Shore Boston newspaper, for at least ten years now (and they are brilliant cartoons, really). He has worked on a couple of very clever comic strip concepts and inked for a few well-known comic strips. He’s done about as many odd jobs as I have — tiling, building, cooking, waiting tables, commercial fishing , — and took on a few singing telegram gigs I promised I wouldn’t mention, so I won’t.

He grew up on Boston’s South Shores in Hull, MA but moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico because they had a lot more new age meditation groups than Hull did… and he writes more in his amazing journals in one night than I write in my comic strips in a month.

Peter competes in Triathlons. He loves baseball, music, reading, his family- Danielle, Pema, Bodhi & Lily. He loves his pets, his llamas, his grandfather’s inventions, and talking on the phone for hours (not necessarily in that order).

Okay, back to my narrative.

Well, it didn’t pan out for Mark and me, and the Down To Earth idea was buried for a few years. I started exhuming it in the summer of 2004. One afternoon as I was pulling out the old roughs, guess who I hear talking to me from my answering machine? Peter Menice.

I waited a few days to call him back (didn’t want him thinking I was too anxious), and it was just too much of a coincidence that we were thinking about each other after four years. Maybe it was Midnight Express showing on HBO that did it. . .

Peter and I talked about The Green House for hours and hours, and we both connected so well on it that we decided we had to get together and talk about it in person.

I drove up to Boston where Peter was visiting his parents. I met his whole family, we read my roughs together… looked at his art… and it was definitely a match. In the world of comic strips, I believe Peter’s an artist who just hadn’t found his niche yet… and I was a writer who just hadn’t found the right vehicle for my writing style.

Two drifters… off to green the world…

We started working on the story lines, hashing out the characters and just getting comfortable with the concept. In March 2005, I went out to New Mexico, help him tile his mother-in-law’s house (Hi, Joyce!) and see how we got along. It was clear that my writing and his art were clicking. If we could tile a floor together, we’d certainly be able to handle the daily task of creating a comic together.

Staying with his family, we all bonded and the project began to really find its “place.” (That’s kinda like it’s “chi,” isn’t it, Peter?) I know this sounds drippy, but what became obvious is this is what we were meant to do. It’s not just about creating a comic, it’s about our families, beliefs, and about joining the larger consciousness of concerned spirits. I’ve already received so much from Peter, Danielle, Pema, Bodhi, Lily, Joyce and her tile… and I’ve found a soul brother with whom to share my dreams. Anything beyond this point is just vegan gravy.

Our first attempt at creating the Green House as a comic was shelved after about two years, but the characters and the strip’s message endured. . . it kept calling to us both to resurrect it. . . and this year it is coming back to life. Crawling out of it’s worm hole to help green up the planet! It’s what Peter and I were meant to do- and a collaboration that goes way beyond a partnership. . . he’s my cartooning soulmate.

I’ve been truly blessed to find Peter, his family, his Dan Millman books, and a new green path to blaze. I’m certain that our combined talents will create a circle of friendship that will be eternally fulfilling. At least it might keep us out of Turkish prisons.

Thank you, Peter!

>Peter gets his turn at me next Friday, the 13th. . . uh oh. . .