October 2, 2002 A Brief History of Klyde ... |
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Everything you always wanted to know about that aviatin' ant Klyde Morris (but were afraid to ask).
October 2, 2002
Klyde Morris was created by author Wes Oleszewski on February,
13, 1978. At
that time Wes was a freshman at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and
two days later the very first Klyde Morris cartoon strip appeared in the campus
newspaper, the Avion. Fortunately for the readers of Klyde Morris, but
unfortunately for Wes, he was compelled to “work his way through school” and
so while he was in and out of school over a number of years the cartoon never
left page two of the Avion. For a full decade, which was the time that it took
Wes to earn his degree and pilot’s certificates, Klyde Morris ran an editorial
spear through the self-important blow-hards of the university. In that time more
than 1,200 Klyde Morris cartoons were read by those who picked up the newspaper.
The “no-holds-barred” and edgy satire of Klyde Morris brought down its share
of administrators and shed light on every university evil do’er until Wes
finished school in the spring of 1988.
The cartoon itself centered on a cynical little ant who, through
administrative stupidity and greed for admission deposits, finds himself
enrolled in the university before anyone discovers that he is actually an ant.
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Klyde’s point of view normally cuts through the rose-colored glass through
which the self-important blow-hards would have us see the world and sheds light
on things that some would rather not have over looked. No person is too powerful
to escape being twisted into Klyde’s world, and no subject is immune. For
example, in his college days, author Wes Oleszewski created a giant statue of
the university president in a fictitious amusement park called Jack Hunt World.
That way ordinary folks could climb into President Hunt’s head and, see the
world through his eyes — “...sorta above everyone else...” right through
the giant aviator sunglasses. He also put one of the university’s check airmen
on a chain, buried the provost in a mountain of campus parking tickets and wrote
hundreds of other cartoons, any one of which should have gotten him expelled
from school. Often, enraged subjects of Klyde Morris stormed into the newspaper
office demanding the cartoonist’s head on a pike, yet over the entire run of
Klyde Morris, Wes never had to write one single retraction for any of his
cartoons.
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When Wes graduated from college, Klyde Morris was retired as the cartoonist
went about pursuing a career as a professional pilot. Requests from Klyde Morris’
fans for the return of the cartoon, however, were constant. At length, in the
spring of 1999, Wes discovered a terrific vehicle for bringing back the cartoon.
Purchasing an Internet Web site, Wes began klydemorris.com, and once again Klyde
Morris came to life. The satire was cranked up, as the cartoon focused on the
aviation industry. Writing from his own experience on the inside of the aviation
business, Wes picked up right where he left off, no-holds-barred and shooting
from the hip with laser beam accuracy.
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In early 2000, the folks at AVweb took notice of this aviation cartoon, and
soon Klyde Morris and AVweb came together. It is a perfect match, with the most
popular aviation news and information site hosting aviation’s most edgy
cartoon strip. Now, twice a week, the readers of AVweb can log on and see the
world from the perspective of the only ant in aviation — Klyde Morris.
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Klyde Morris is copyright ©
2000, by Wes Oleszewski. All rights reserved.
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