Saturday, January 09, 2010

He was much more than a little green slab of clay

Gumby!
He was once a little green slab of clay.
Gumby!

You should see what Gumby can do today.
Gumby!

He can walk into any book, with his pony pal Pokey, too.
If you've got a heart then Gumby's a part of you.

In case you haven't heard, Art Clokey died Friday morning. Mr. Clokey created Gumby, one of my favorite childhood cartoons. His animation style had such an influence on me, I wanted to be a claymation animator for a while. In fact, for a seventh grade art project, I created a short claymation cartoon featuring a magician who pulled a rabbit out of his hat then turned the wand on himself to make himself disappear. One day I'll digitize that film and show it you. (Yes, I used old school 8mm film, which you edited by splicing the film apart and then taping it back together. Very awesome!)

Several years ago, I had the chance to meet Mr. Clokey in person because he was a friend of a friend. I was so nervous -- starstruck! -- that I couldn't find the courage to ask for a photo.

But I did bring my Gumby for him to sign.


My signed Gumby is a permanent fixture on my writing desk, leaning against the foreign editions of Thirteen Reasons Why, with his arm around the topper of my wedding cake.

12 comments:

StaffPicks said...

Damnit!

AmandaHewer said...

It must be amazing to see how many countries your book has been loved. And of course to have Gumby waving at you when you look at the shelf. =)

Jay Asher said...

I was trying to fit "Damnit!" somewhere in the post, but just couldn't do it. So thanks for helping me out, Paul!

That's my favorite section of my desk, Amanda!

Anonymous said...

Starstruck is how some of us feel when we meet our favorite authors!! Thanks for posting about it. I missed that. Honestly, sometimes I get so immersed in the world of literature, that I'm not part of the real world. I loved that show.

Great wedding cake topper. How thrilling is it to own your books in languages that you can't read? So cool.

brenda

Caprica-Lex said...

Unfortunately I've never heard of Gumby or his creator, but I'm going to check it out on Youtube.

That's quite a collection of foreign versions! Did you read one of the non-English?

I have the German version (of course) and the American. As I bought the British version a couple of days ago, my girlfriend thought I'm totally crazy *g*

Jay Asher said...

It's never crazy to buy more copies of my book in any language. In fact, I encourage people to buy it in every language!

And while it is exciting to see it printed in all of those languages, the only time I read those books (cuz I don't understand any of those languages), is when I want to make people laugh!

AmandaHewer said...

I didn't realize the first time I read this that the picture was your wedding cake topper. How adorable! =)

Jenny Schwartzberg said...

Thanks for this post. I once had a tiny little Gumby and never knew that it had a name or a history. The mini-Gumby has long disappeared but thanks for answering a question I never even knew I had about this childhood toy.

Rita said...

That is the greatest wedding cake topper ever. It says so much about you guys.

RIP, Gumby.

Jessy said...

It must be awesome to have your book sold in so many different countries and languages! All of those different editions...
I only have the American version (bought it on Amazon haha). I told my friends about the book and they wanted to read it. Since it's not everyone in Brazil who reads a whole book in english, many of them bought the Brazilian edition. And I'm gonna buy too, when I find it again.

brittany12 said...

When I first looked at the post, I thought that you had edited you and your wife into it. The wedding cake topper was a nice touch. Do you ever find yourself stunned by the number of languages that they are available in? Has anyone ever made a play out of 13RW? If so, how was it?

Jay Asher said...

Yes, it's amazing to know that people all over the world are reading my book. Amazing and wonderful!

And go check out my posts from November. A high school did perform a stage version of 13RW...and I got to attend!!!