thecorrespondence1980s

Letter (written by Garé) from August 29, 1980, to Dorothy.
The project with a book about Barks' Disney paintings ran into trouble and he had to ask Disney to stop all negotiations until everything was straightened out

...This is still going on, but we’ve dropped out of it and are trying to get back to production after wasting months of time on it. Carl is so disgusted! He says anyone mentioning 'book' to him again will get the 'heave-ho' out of the house!...
...Meanwhile, the first book that the Gary Kurtz outfit started working on 2 yrs ago seems to be starting to move. Anyway, they got as far as sending us a 200 lb. crate of paper on which the 'bonus' prints that go in the limited edition of the book will be printed. The sheets are 26”x40” and Carl has to sign each sheet 8 times where the 8 prints will go! The only trouble is they didn’t send the template that would show him where his signatures should go!...

...The 'Duck' mania has hit Norway in the last 2 or 3 yrs and this same publishing company publishes the Disney duck stories. They sell over a million a month to a population of about 4 million people, an amazing percentage! (The publishing company for the whole Scandinavian market (i.e. Denmark, Norway, and Sweden) is the Danish Gutenberghus (now Egmont) and they may have churned out about a million copies per month - for the whole market - Editor's remark)...

Letter from January 15, 1981, to daughter Dorothy

...Seems that at last I am beginning to feel that retiring to an easy chair would be a pretty nice way of life...

Letter (written by Garé) from March 7, 1981, to Dorothy

...Carl is spending a lot of his time right now writing introductory paragraphs for the stories that will be reproduced in the big Scrooge book. Also, about every 10 days to 2 wks, we have a day taken up with the Australian colorist, bringing the latest story he’s colored out for approval etc...

Letter (written by Garé) from June 16, 1981, to Dorothy

...The two books in the works piddle along at a snail’s pace - but I suppose they’ll get done eventually. There seems to be always another problem to surmount...

Letter (written by Garé) from September 3, 1981, to Dorothy

...We’ve been kept tied down for the summer with appointments and conferences regarding the books - which are continually being switched and changed (the appointments)...

Letter (written by Garé) from December 17, 1981, to Dorothy

...Carl has got back to painting - the 2 books are finally in process of being printed - so we are getting a bit of peace from the incessant telephone questions...

Letter (written by Garé) from February 20, 1982, to Dorothy

...Carl is just finishing up a big western bar room scene (Worth a whole Month's Wages - Editor's remark) that he’s been sweating over for several months. He’s just put in a row of mugs or steins up over the bar...

Letter (written by Garé) from March 11, 1982, to Dorothy

...We’ll be mailing the big fat Uncle Scrooge book to you Monday - so be watching! The book of paintings will come later. Had to send some back for replacement (bindery errors in them!)...

Letter from August 1, 1982, to daughter Dorothy

...So far we have gotten very little financial reward (like royalties) from the books, but the future looks promising. I dread the loss of privacy that all the publicity brings on...
...some visitors coming to shake my hand and ask questions. Fans call it their 'pilgrimage to Mecca.' Oh me! Oh my!...

Letter (written by Garé) from 1983 to Dorothy

...I enclose a picture of our bear. He is such an expressive little guy it is hard to realize he is only a toy. We bought him from a visiting professor from Montana University who makes bears in his spare time. We've named him 'Monty,' and have built up a robust past for him in fantasy, like saying he rode shotgun on Wells Fargo stages over the Bitterroots...

Letter from April 23, 1984, to daughter Dorothy

...Wednesday a famous German artist (Gottfried Helnwein, Editor's remark) is coming here to pick my brains on how to paint a portrait of Donald Duck for the cover of Germany’s most prestigious magazine. The guy has done portraits of Muhammad Ali, Mick Jagger, and such ranking celebrities, so he must consider Donald is now a celebrity, too...

Letter from March 29, 1985, to someone named George

…I have quit trying to guess when the comic book collecting craze will fade into the torpor of sanity…
...Perhaps the time will come when Uncle Scrooge and Donald and Duckburg are as acceptable to mainstream American readers as Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn…
...Also I can send you a page of original comic book art … the page is currently worth about 2000 … it should be displayed with the opened comic book alongside, opened to the page that reproduces the original art…
…We took the new Subaru out for a test run … a pleasant experience that makes us realize how much of living we miss with my nose constantly pressed against the grindstone … so back to work on the next lithograph subject painting...
...Please check out my other auctions for more original comic art!...

Letter from August 11, 1986, to daughter Dorothy

...Business seems to be deteriorating in the publishing plant that buys and prints my duck paintings for lithographs. The pay checks are getting far apart, and it’s all because the publisher spread out into several other types of publishing, which lose money. I almost wish the whole job would collapse. I’m tired after 56 years of making my living by the sweat of my pencil...

Letter from July 25, 1989, to Peter Reichelt.
Barks had been asked about a drawing he made in 1939

...I am very fuzzy at remembering anything as far back as 1939, but your Xerox of the nude certainly does look like a drawing I made about that time...