ISCA Hall of Fame Inductee: Glenn Ferguson
Article Transcription
I was asked to put together a write-up about Glenn Ferguson’s induction into the ISCA Hall of Fame. Having at one time shared a space in his home and worked alongside him in a professional capacity and subsequently developing a strong friendship despite the geographical distance between us, it was a little tricky and admittedly bizarre for me to put in writing a summary of his character and accomplishments because it almost feels like – and you’ll have to forgive me for this – a eulogy of sorts. Fear not, Glenn lives on, and there’s a lot left to say about him after reflecting on his life thus far.
Where do I start?
First and foremost, it’s an honor to have been asked to do this. One of my biggest regrets (and quite honestly, disappointments) was not being asked to present Glenn with his Golden Nosey the year he finally won the high honor at the annual convention (I was, however, asked to preside over his wedding years later. That he trusted me with something so legally binding speaks volumes of our mutual trust as friends, really. Once you get past all of the good-natured sniping, we’re as close to brothers as anyone can get without, well, actually being brothers. More on that later). That’s all I’ll say about my personal friendship with Glenn, I promise. I could go on for pages on that alone, but I’ll spare all of you.
I will also keep something else brief, and that is the circumstances which have lead to Glenn’s current and heartbreaking physical and emotional condition. I do this in the spirit of not taking away from Glenn’s artistic and executive accomplishments, and contributions which are the primary reason that he is being given this honor, and not out of sympathy for the tragedy which nearly took his life over a year ago on New Year’s Day in 2016.
For those of you who are not familiar with the story (and it would be mind-boggling to me if there are more than two or three such people left in our community,) I will summarize it: Glenn was attacked violently at his place of employment and left with permanent physical and psychological damage, and most tragically (at least for the relevance to our creative community) robbed of his ability to draw. I personally choose to think in a temporary frame of mind because I dream of a day, perhaps years from now, when my friend will dig up this issue of the EF and remember with fond nostalgia a time when people all over the world bled from their hearts at the prospect of a creative flame being snuffed out – and he will have these memories after regaining the ability to create with his hands. I still hold out hope.
Once in a while, someone walks into your life and you feel like a better person just for having met them. Glenn is one such person.
His history can be summarized in one word: loyalty. As an artist, a worker, a brother, a friend and a husband, he is fiercely loyal, almost to a fault. Glenn is also humorous, hard-working, creative, intelligent and mission-driven. He possesses a work-ethic and energy that most people wish could be bottled and sold at a premium. Where did this guy get his energy (I often speculated that the gallons upon gallons of Coca-Cola and steady late-night diet of Taco Bell had something to do with it)? If you’re lucky, someone like this becomes a permanent fixture in your life in some capacity. As an organization, we were lucky to have acquired his energy and talents when he became a longtime member of our board of directors, having served as my vice president of the then National Caricaturist Network and continuing on the board for several years and three different presidents. He could easily have abandoned his place on the board and focused solely on creating his art and joining in the festivities afforded to the non-board convention attendees. Instead, he chose to work hard behind the scenes year after year, helping oversee the machinery that helps our annual get-together run as smoothly as possible. I can tell you as an insider that it is challenging, sometimes thankless work, but Glenn persevered through the many trials and tribulations – all of this while maintaining his full-time theme park job, tackling numerous freelance assignments and regular gigs, not to mention building a hot rod from scratch in his “spare” time, pursuing bodybuilding, training briefly in aikido and running a successful emu farm (that last one was a joke, I swear). It seemed there was nothing Glenn would not try, except perhaps quitting. As cliché as it sounds, I don’t think he knew exactly how to give up on something once he put his mind to it. This stubborn, dig-in-your-heels quality served him throughout his life and recently during the initial stages of his recovery. A lesser man would have perhaps lost hope, but Glenn’s love for life (not to mention the love from our community and well beyond) have kept him fighting the good fight and beating all initial expectations.
Glenn is the quintessential caricature artist: talented and driven, personable and professional, with an impressive body of work worthy of his over 30 NCN/ISCA awards, he serves as an inspiration with both his art and his ability to strive beyond excellence and continues to serve as an inspiration for those who have ever been at an impasse after a life-changing tragedy. Anyone is lucky for having him as a friend. Our humble organization is lucky to have called him vice president. He embodies every quality that people in our field, both seasoned professionals and humble beginners, strive to achieve. It is these qualities and his years of selfless contributions that have made it utterly proper and almost necessary to present this honor to our loyal friend.
On behalf of the ISCA board, it gives me great pleasure to present to you, Glenn Ferguson, a well-deserved place in the ISCA Hall of Fame.
Thank you for being you.
From Glenn & JoAnn
“We just want to thank everyone for all the support, love, prayers, generosity. I’ve always felt ISCA is family but after what happened to Glenn everyone from all over the world has shown how much our caricature community is family.”
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