A brief
introduction:
My name is
Paul Howley, owner of the Eisner Award winning pop culture collector’s store
known as “That’s Entertainment” in Worcester, Massachusetts and a second store
in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Some people have called me the “luckiest man in
the comic book business.” (I’m not) My stores have been around for over forty
years and it’s been a long and interesting combination of events and people
that have brought these stores to this current place. It is not my intent to
boast or brag about my store or my life. I just want to tell you my story. In
many instances, my wife remembers things a little differently, but this is the
truth as I remember it.
The Current
Cast of Characters:
Paul Howley:
age 49
Mal Howley:
age 50
Adam Howley:
my son, age 21
Cassy
Howley: my daughter, age 20
MY LIFE WITH
COMIC BOOKS: THE HISTORY OF A COMIC SHOP:
Part #215
While we were getting ready for Cassandra’s
wedding to Matt, our stores were busy with an interesting event for our
customers. Someone, (I don’t remember exactly who it was) was a big fan of the
popular newspaper comic strip titled, “Mutts” written and created by Patrick
McDonnell. It was a gentle, humorous comic strip about animals, primarily dogs.
Our major local newspaper, “The Worcester Telegram”, ran this comic strip in
the newspaper as a black and white daily strip and a full-color Sunday strip.
Patrick didn’t do store appearances often,
but Ken (the company manager) contacted the local Animal Rescue League and
asked if they’d be interested in being part of an in-store appearance. Once
they agreed, the idea of the appearance was presented to Patrick and he agreed
to come. He would bring copies of the Mutts book collections that had been
released in paperback versions for customers to buy. We also got commitments
from local artists Jennifer Lopez of “BizToons” and Suzanne Thibodeau-Gale of
“Dear Diary: A Middle School Memoir” and “Dear Diary: The High School Years” to
appear.
We figured that the “Worcester Telegram”
would be interested in helping us promote the appearance since they ran the
comic strip and they didn’t disappoint us! They did an very nice two-page
article about Patrick’s appearance and it was published a few days before the
event. The mayor of the city of Worcester declared the day of the appearance,
Sunday, July 11, 2004, to be “Mutts Day.”
When the day arrived, we were happy with the
crowd of people who came to meet Patrick. He sold some books and some of the
attendees even adopted pets! It was another fun day for everyone!
Next
Chapter: I go “back in time” to tell a sad story.
