A glass of diluted pastis

French pastis

Pastis (UK /ˈpæstɪs/ or US /pæˈstiːs/) is an anise-flavored liqueur and apéritif from France, typically containing 40–45% alcohol by volume, although alcohol-free varieties exist.

Origins[link]

Pastis was first commercialized by Paul Ricard in 1932 and enjoys substantial popularity in France, especially in the southern regions of the country.^[1] Pastis emerged some 17 years following the ban on absinthe, during a time when the French nation was still apprehensive of high-proof anise drinks in the wake of the absinthe debacle^{[citation needed]}. The popularity of pastis may be attributable to a penchant for anise drinks that was cultivated by absinthe decades earlier, but is also part of an old tradition of Mediterranean anise liquors that includes sambuca, ouzo, arak, rakı, and mastika.

Composition[link]

By legal definition, pastis is described as an anise flavored spirit that contains the additional flavor of licorice root, and may contain a maximum of 100 grams/l sugar.^[2] While pastis was originally artisanally produced from whole herbs like most spirits at the time of its creation, modern versions are typically prepared by mixing base alcohol with commercially prepared flavorings (essences and/or extracts) and caramel coloring.^{[3][4][5][6][7]}

Pastis is often associated with its historical predecessor (absinthe), yet the two are in fact very different. Pastis does not contain grand wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), the herb from which absinthe derives its name. Also, pastis obtains its anise flavor from a distillation (or industrially prepared distillates) of star anise, an herb of Asian origin, whereas absinthe traditionally obtains its base flavor from green anise, a European herb. Furthermore, pastis traditionally exhibits the distinct flavor of licorice root (another herb of Asian origin), which is not a part of a traditional absinthe. Where bottled strength is concerned, traditional absinthes were bottled at 45–74% ABV, while pastis is typically bottled at 45–50% ABV. Finally, unlike a traditional absinthe, pastis is a "liqueur", which means it is always bottled with sugar.

Serving[link]

Pastis is normally diluted with water before drinking, generally five volumes of water for one volume of pastis, but often neat pastis is served together with a jug of water for the drinker to blend together according to preference. The resulting decrease in alcohol percentage causes some of the constituents to become insoluble, which changes the liqueur's appearance from dark transparent yellow to milky soft yellow, a phenomenon also present with absinthe and known as the ouzo effect. The drink is consumed cold and considered a refreshment for hot days. Ice cubes can be added after the water to avoid crystallization of the anethole in the pastis. However, many pastis drinkers refuse to add ice, preferring to drink the beverage with cool spring water.

Although consumed throughout France, pastis is generally associated with southeastern France, particularly with the city of Marseille, where it is nicknamed Pastaga, and with the clichés of the Provençal lifestyle, like pétanque.

Pastis is probably one of the most popular beverages in France where 130 million liters are sold each year (more than 2 liters per inhabitant).^[8]

Cocktails with pastis[link]

Some well known cocktails use pastis and syrups, including the following:

• Mauresque (French for "moorish"): pastis with orgeat syrup
• Perroquet (French for "parrot"): pastis with green mint syrup
• Tomate (French for "tomato"): pastis with grenadine syrup
• Rourou (from "Rousseau-Wiart"): pastis with strawberry syrup
• Cornichon (French for "pickle"): pastis with banana syrup
• Mazout (French for "Mazut"): pastis with cola

See also[link]

• Anisette
• Pernod
• Henri Bardouin

References[link]

v t e Alcoholic beverages   History and production History of alcohol History of alcohol History of beer History of Champagne History of wine History of French wine History of Rioja wine History of Chianti Production Brewing Distilling Winemaking   Alcoholic beverages Fermented beverage Beer (types) Wine (types) Cider (category) Mead (category) Rice wine (category) Other fermented beverages Distilled beverage Brandy (category) Gin (category) Horilka (category) Liqueur (category) Rum (category) Tequila (category) Vodka (category) Whisky (category) Fortified wine (category) Madeira wine (category) Marsala wine Port wine Sherry (category) Vermouth (category)   Distilled beverages by ingredients Grain Barley Irish whiskey Japanese whisky Scotch whisky Maize Bourbon whiskey Corn whiskey Tennessee whiskey Rice Awamori Cheongju Rice baijiu Soju Rye Rye whiskey Sorghum Baijiu (Kaoliang) Multiple grains American whiskey Canadian whisky Fruit Apple Applejack Calvados Cashew apple Fenny Coconut Arrack Grape Arak Armagnac Brandy Cognac Pisco Plum Slivovitz Ţuică Pomace Chacha Grappa Marc Orujo Tsikoudia Tsipouro Zivania Various/other fruit Eau de vie Kirschwasser Nalewka Pálinka Rakia Schnaps Other Agave Mezcal Tequila Sugarcane/molasses Aguardiente Arak Cachaça Clairin Guaro Rum Seco Herrerano Tharra Various cereals and potato Akvavit Baijiu Horilka Poitín Shōchū Vodka   Liqueurs and infused distilled beverages by ingredients Almond Amaretto Crème de Noyaux Anise Absinthe Arak Ouzo Pastis Raki Sambuca Chocolate Chocolate liqueur Cinnamon Tentura Cloudberry Lakka Coconut Malibu Coffee Kahlua Tia Maria Egg Advocaat Hazelnut Frangelico Herbs Aquavit Bénédictine Brennivín Crème de menthe Metaxa Minttu Honey Bärenjäger Drambuie Glayva Krupnik Juniper Gin Jenever Orange Campari Curaçao Triple sec Peppers Pertsivka Star anise Sassolino Sugarcane/molasses Charanda Various/other fruit Crème de banane Crème de cassis Limoncello Schnapps Sloe gin Alcoholic beverages category Drinking establishment Drink Portal Beer Portal Beer WikiProject Spirits WikiProject Wine Portal Wine WikiProject

v t e Absinthe Brands Kübler La Clandestine La Fée Lucid Obsello Absenta Pernod Fils St. George Related drinks Absente Bohemian-style absinth Herbsaint Hill's Le Tourment Vert Mickey Slim Pastis Piołunówka Ingredients Acorus calamus Angelica archangelica Fenchone Thujone Popular culture L'Absinthe Absinthe: La Folie Verte Other Absinthiana George Rowley Jean Lanfray

Francky Vincent
Background information
Birth name	Franck Vincent
Born	(1956-04-18) April 18, 1956 (age 56)
Origin	Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe
Genres	Adult Contemporary Cadence-lypso Compas Kadans World beat Zouk
Occupations	Singer-songwriter Producer Manager Painter Comedian Writer
Instruments	Vocalist, Guitarist
Years active	1975-present
Associated acts	Universal Music Wagram Music Debs Music Liso Music Buda Music
Website	http://www.myspace.com/franckyvincentcebon
Past members
Tabou n°2
Notable instruments
Gwo Ka, Guitar

Francky Vincent (born on April 18, 1956 in Pointe-à-Pitre) is a singer, song-writer, producer, painter, manager and musician of at least 170 songs from Guadeloupe. He is known for his provocative and sexually explicit lyrics, brutal outspokenness, and his charming smile. He is known for his single Fruit De La Passion, which is the most notable and successful of his career, selling over 700.000 copies in Metropolitan France, more than any other Zouk solo singer.

He has sold a total of over 2 millions albums worldwide especially in francophone countries. He is considered by many to be the most popular and successful Guadeloupean solo singer, one of the Greatest Caribbean Artists of All Time and the most well-known Zouk singer in France, as well as one of the most criticized.^{[citation needed]}

Biography[link]

Childhood[link]

Francky Vincent was born in Pointe-à-Pitre April 18, 1956, in Guadeloupe, in a modest family, an engineer father and a mother embroiderer. After a difficult childhood in red light districts of his native city, he abandoned his studies at two months of the bachelor to occupy the post of Clerical Officer in the service of social security registration of Pointe-à-Pitre, where there is dismissed after six months. In 1976 he left to do his military service in Guyana and came home the following year and became head of a store selling spare parts for light aircraft in Raizet.

Career[link]

In 1975, he joined a small, suburban group called Taboo No. 2 as a percussionist, and he travelled Guadeloupe with his henchmen to host weddings and dances. He released two albums, Ambition et Ti Paulette.

He decides to raise the group Taboo No. 2 shows a third album in 1978: Retour en Force.

Finally, he decides to go it alone and abandon Taboo No. 2 to write and compose obscene, even shocking songs. His first solo album, sold under the mantle, sold 50 000 copies.

Since the 1980s, Francky became known throughout the Caribbean community living in Paris or the Caribbean under the nickname "Doctor Porno," the Zoukeur X "or" Francky Maleli ". Despite a ban on air (which ultimately turned out to be very good publicity), his music appealed to tourists.

In 1990, he decided to produce his own music and created Francky Vincent productions. He began to sing more in French in order to challenge the majors and to develop nationally. The following year, his album Alice ça Glisse is a hit in the West Indies and sold more than 50 000 copies. At this time, he appears for the first time on stage in Paris Olympia. Following this, noting that the record companies still were not interested in him, he moved to Paris in February 1992.

Two years later, he signed a license agreement with Arcadi (now Wagram Music ) and launched the famous compilation Fruit De La Passion (Vas-y Francky c'est bon) which was a huge success. The lead song was the hit of the summer, and the album brought together many like Alice ça Glisse, Le Tourment D'Amour, Viens dans mon duplex. These hits were broadcast on radio and in nightclubs. The disc was ranked 17th in the Top Albums Ifop / SNEP for 13 weeks and sold over 200 000 copies, Francky was a guest on French television studios by Michel Drucker , Jean-Pierre Foucault, amongst others. He plays Olympia once again and began touring with international success.

In 1996, his album Le Tombeur was little publicized, ranked 40th and remained two weeks in the Top Albums Ifop / SNEP. At this time, he lived between Baie-Mahault and Paris. His success continued with A La Folie in 1999, which included covering the title of Kassav legendary title: Zouk la sé sel médikaman song and Chanteur De Zouk Love, a song dedicated to all Zouk Love singers, citing absurd lyrics and musical rhythm in a comical themes.

His next album in 2004, Ça va chauffer, did not meet the success he expected. Francky related this affair in the song Droit de réponse.

In March 2009 , Francky Vincent signed a contract with Universal Music. He has since released a summer anthem single, Tu veux mon zizi , which made an entry in the charts by automatically placing sixth and staying twenty-nine weeks in the rankings . In July 2009, he released a double compilation called My fest'of. This allowed Francky to come back under the media spotlight and score another hit.

On 29 January 2010 , he joined the 3rd installment of a French reality TV show named La Ferme Célébrités, which took place in South Africa, more precisely in Zulu Nyala near Hluhluwe. This show was broadcast on TF1 with others celebrities such as Brigitte Nielsen, David Charvet and Surya Bonaly. Francky lasted seven weeks in the game, promoting his association Association Cent Familles (Association One Hundred Families) led by Jean Luc Lahaye. He was eliminated on March 19 during his second nomination to face Kelly Bochenko (to be removed with him), David Charvet and Mickael Vendetta .

In June 2010, he went on tour and releasded his the summer single hit, Moi J'aime Scier.

Personal life[link]

Francky currently resides with Sandrine, his wife, in Brevans; They have a son, Mathis, born in 2005. He often returns with his family to Guadeloupe.

Discography[link]

• Mathis métis (2012)
• My fest'of (2009)
• La vie en rose
• Ca va chauffer (2004)
• Complètement Francky (2003)
• Réchauffe l'hiver (2001)
• A la Folie (1999)
• Collection Légende (1999)
• Faîtes la fête avec Francky Vincent (1998)
• Le Tombeur (1996)
• Aka manman (1995)
• The very best of Francky Vincent (1995)
• Fruit de la passion (1994)
• Nigivir (1993)
• Les meilleurs succès de Francky Vincent (1992)
• Alice ça glisse (1991)
• Manze Zaza (1990)
• Coquinement Zouk (1991)
• 15 ans déjà... (Putain !) (1989)
• Manze Lola (1988)
• Positif(1987)
• Piña Colada (1986)
• Le lolo (1985)
• Comme Franky (voyé dlo) (1984)
• Dans la chaleur de la nuit
• Qui m'aime me suive (1983)

and album with Tabou n°2:

• Ambition
• Ti paulette
• Retour en force
• La Braguette d'or (1978)
• L'âme du Tabou n°2

Jean Rochefort
Born	(1930-04-29) 29 April 1930 (age 82) Paris, France
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1956 - present

Jean Rochefort (born 29 April 1930) is a French actor, with a career that has spanned over five decades.

Rochefort was born in Paris, France.^[1] He was educated at the Lycée Pierre Corneille in Rouen^[2] He was 19 years old when he entered the Centre d'Art Dramatique de la rue Blanche. Later he joined the Conservatoire National. After his national service, in 1953, he worked with the Compagnie Grenier Hussenot as a theatre actor for seven years. There he was noticed for his ability to play both drama and comedy. He then became a television and cinema actor. He has also worked as director.

In his 30s during the shooting of Cartouche, he discovered his passion for horses and equestrianism. He has been a horse breeder since then and now owns Le Haras de Villequoy. His passion led him to become a horse consultant for French television in 2004. He has won two César Awards: In 1976, Best Supporting Actor for Que la fête commence; and in 1978, Best Actor for Le Crabe-tambour.

He was to play the title character in The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, after being found as "the perfect Quixote" by director Terry Gilliam. Rochefort learned English just for the part. Unfortunately, amongst other production problems, he began suffering from a herniated disc. Unable to film for months, production was cancelled. A documentary, Lost in La Mancha, was made about the failed production. With recent news of the film's possible restart, Rochefort has been recast with Robert Duvall, due to his inability to ride a horse.^{[citation needed]}

In 2007, he sang a short verse with the French band Dionysos in "l'homme sans trucage": « Vas-y, saute, monte, grimpe à ton cœur, sauve-toi, n'aie pas peur, ouvre grand, mon petit, il est temps d'avaler une énorme bouffée d'air frais, andalucia, anda, anda, andalucia... » ("Go ahead, jump, climbs to your heart, save yourself, don't be afraid, open wide, my boy, it's time to swallow a huge breath of fresh air, andalucia, anda, anda, andaluci...")^{[citation needed]}

Family[link]

In 1960 he married Alexandra Moscwa, with whom he fathered two children: a girl, Marie (1962), and a boy, Julien (1965).

Filmography[link]

French title / English title when available (year):

• Rencontre à Paris / Meeting in Paris (1942)
• Une balle dans le canon / A Bullet in the Gun Barrel (1958)
• Vingt mille lieues sur la terre / 20,000 Leagues Across the Land (1961)
• Capitaine Fracasse (1961)
• Cartouche / Swords of Blood (1962)
• Climats / Climates of Love (1962)
• Le Soleil dans l'oeil / Sun in Your Eyes (1962)
• Le Masque de fer / The Iron Mask (1962)
• Fort-du-fou / Outpost in Indo-china (1963)
• Symphonie pour un massacre / Symphony for a Massacre (1963)
• La Porteuse de pain / The Bread Peddler (1963)
• La Foire aux cancres / The Blockhead Fair (1963)
• Du grabuge chez les veuves / Trouble Among Widows (1964)
• Les Pieds nickelés (1964)
• Angélique (1964)
• Trouble Among Widows (1964)
• Merveilleuse Angélique / Angelique: The Road to Versailles (1965)
• Les Tribulations d'un chinois en Chine / Chinese Adventures in China (1965)
• Angélique et le roy / Angelique and the King (1966)
• Qui êtes-vous, Polly Maggoo? / Who Are You, Polly Magoo? (1966)
• Le Facteur s'en va-t-en guerre / The Postman Goes to War (1966)
• À coeur joie / Two Weeks in September (1967)
• Ne jouez pas avec les Martiens / Don't Play with Martians (1967)
• Le Diable par la queue / The Devil by the Tail (1969)
• Le Temps de mourir / The Time to Die (1970)
• La Liberté en croupe (1970)
• Céleste (1970)
• Le Grand blond avec une chaussure noire / The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe (1972)
• L'Oeuf / The Egg (1972)
• Hearth Fires (Les Feux de la chandeleur) (1972)
• L'Héritier / The Inheritor (1973)
• Bel ordure / Lovely Swine (1973)
• Le Complot / The Conspiracy (1973)
• Salut l'artiste / Hail The Artist (1973)
• L'Homme aux nerfs d'acier / Escape from Death Row (1973)
• L'Horloger de Saint-Paul / The Clockmaker of St. Paul (1974)
• Comment réussir quand on est con et pleurnichard / How to Make Good When One Is a Jerk and a Crybaby (1974)
• Le fantôme de la liberté / The Phantom of Liberty (1974)
• Retour du grand blond / The Return of the Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe (1974)
• Que la fête commence... / Let Joy Reign Supreme (1974)
• Les innocents aux mains sales aka Innocents with Dirty Hands (1975)
• Un divorce heureux / A Happy Divorce (1975)
• Isabelle devant le désir / Isabelle and Lust (1975)
• Les vécés étaient fermés de l'interieur (1976) by Patrice Leconte
• Calmos / Cool, Calm and Collected (1976)
• Les Magiciens / Death Rite (1976)
• Un éléphant ça trompe énormément / An Elephant Can Be Extremely Deceptive (1976)
• Nous irons tous au paradis / We Will All Meet in Paradise (1977)
• Le Crabe-tambour / Drummer-Crab (1977)
• Le Diable dans la boîte / The Devil in the Box (1977)
• La Grande Cuisine / Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (1978)
• Le Cavaleur / Practice Makes Perfect (1979)
• Grandison (1979)
• Courage fuyons / Courage - Let's Run (1979)
• French Postcards (1979)
• Chère inconnue (1980)
• Je hais les blondes / I Hate Blondes (1980)
• Un étrange voyage (1981)
• Il faut tuer Birgit Haas / Birgit Haas Must Be Killed (1981)
• L'Indiscrétion (1982)
• Le Grand frère / The Big Brother (1982)
• L'Honneur d'un capitaine / A Captain's Honor (1982)
• Un dimanche de flic / A Cops' Sunday (1983)
• L'Ami de Vincent / A Friend of Vincent (1983)
• Frankenstein 90 (1984)
• Réveillon chez Bob (1984)
• David, Thomas et les autres / A Volley for a Black Buffalo (1985)
• La Galette du roi (1986)
• Tandem (1987) by Patrice Leconte
• Le Moustachu / The Field Agent (1987)
• Je suis le seigneur du château / I'm the King of the Castle (1989)
• The Hairdresser's Husband (1990) by Patrice Leconte
• Le Château de ma mère / My Mother's Castle (1990)
• Amoureux fou / Madly in Love (1991)
• Le Bal des casse-pieds (1992)
• Le Visionarium / The Timekeeper (1992)
• L'Atlantide (1992)
• Tango (1993) by Patrice Leconte
• Cible émouvante / Wild Target (1993)
• Tombés du ciel / Lost in Transit (1993)
• Et ensuite, le feu / Next Time the Fire (1994)
• Ready to Wear (Prêt-à-Porter) (1994)
• Tom est tout seul (1995)
• Même heure, l'année prochaine / Once a Year, Every Year (1995)
• Palace (1996)
• Les Grands ducs (1996) by Patrice Leconte
• Ridicule (1996) by Patrice Leconte
• Never Ever (1996)
• Barracuda (1997)
• Le Serpent a mangé la grenouille (1998)
• Le Vent en emporte autant / Wind with the Gone (1998)
• Rembrandt (1999)
• Le Placard (2001)
• Honolulu Baby (2001)
• La Vie sans secret de Walter Nions (2001)
• L'homme du train (The Man on the Train) (aka Man on the Train in the US) (2002) by Patrice Leconte
• Blanche (2002)
• Lost in La Mancha (2002)
• Fanfan la tulipe (2003)
• Il était une fois Jean-Sébastien Bach (2003)
• Les Clefs de bagnole / The Car Keys (2003)
• RRRrrrr!!! (2004)
• Les Dalton / The Daltons (2004)
• Désaccord parfait (2006)
• Tell No One - (2006)
• Mr. Bean's Holiday (2007)
• id - Identity of the Soul (2008)
• Agathe Cléry (2008)

External links[link]

• Jean Rochefort at the Internet Movie Database

Notes[link]

v t e César Award for Best Actor 1976 Philippe Noiret · 1977 Michel Galabru · 1978 Jean Rochefort · 1979 Michel Serrault · 1980 Claude Brasseur · 1981 Gérard Depardieu · 1982 Michel Serrault · 1983 Philippe Léotard · 1984 Coluche · 1985 Alain Delon · 1986 Christophe Lambert · 1987 Daniel Auteuil · 1988 Richard Bohringer · 1989 Jean-Paul Belmondo · 1990 Philippe Noiret · 1991 Gérard Depardieu · 1992 Jacques Dutronc · 1993 Claude Rich · 1994 Pierre Arditi · 1995 Gérard Lanvin · 1996 Michel Serrault · 1997 Philippe Torreton · 1998 André Dussollier · 1999 Jacques Villeret · 2000 Daniel Auteuil · 2001 Sergi López · 2002 Michel Bouquet · 2003 Adrien Brody · 2004 Omar Sharif · 2005 Mathieu Amalric · 2006 Michel Bouquet · 2007 François Cluzet · 2008 Mathieu Amalric · 2009 Vincent Cassel · 2010 Tahar Rahim · 2011 Éric Elmosnino · 2012 Omar Sy

Stephan Thomas Pastis
Stephan Pastis at Helsinki Comics Festival, Finland, 2011.
Born	(1968-01-16) January 16, 1968 (age 44)
Nationality	American
Alma mater	University Of California, Berkeley; UCLA School of Law
Occupation	Insurance defense litigation attorney (1993-2002) Cartoonist of the comic strip Pearls Before Swine (2000-present)
Spouse	Staci [Daniels] Pastis
Children	Thomas Pastis Julia Pastis
Website
stephanpastis.wordpress.com

Stephan Thomas Pastis (pronounced "Stefen Passtiss") (born January 16, 1968) is an American cartoonist and the creator of the comic strip Pearls Before Swine.

Background[link]

A second-generation Greek-American, Pastis was raised in San Marino, California.^[1] He started cartooning as a child; his mother brought him pens and paper to amuse him when he was "sick a lot" and had to stay in bed. He dreamed of being a syndicated cartoonist, but figured the odds were against it. Since he enjoyed debating he decided that the law would enable him to earn a living.^[2] He attended the University of California at Berkeley, earning a B.A. in Political Science in 1989. The following year Pastis attended law school at UCLA.^[3][4] He kept drawing all during this time, coming up with the character of the first Pearls Before Swine character, Rat, during a boring class in law school.^[2]

"When I wrote for him [Rat] it seemed pretty honest. It was the first character where I could really say what's on my mind. When I put it on paper, it's my voice. So it works for me."^[5]

From 1993 to 2002, Pastis practiced law as an insurance defense litigation attorney in the San Francisco Bay area, but quickly became disenchanted with it. He didn't like its adversarial nature, nor "the anxiety and tension it produced,"^[2] so in the mid-1990s he revisited his earlier ambition of becoming a syndicated cartoonist by submitting various concepts to syndication agencies. The Infirm,^[6] Rat^[7] and Bradbury Road,^[8] as well as others, were repeatedly rejected.

[edit] Pearls Before Swine

The character of Rat came from Pastis's earlier strip, Rat. The character of Pig, who is Rat's diametric opposite, had been featured in The Infirm, which was about an attorney who numbered an evil pig farmer among his clients. Although Pastis had developed the characters, they were still just stick figures with jokes. One day in 1996, Pastis drove to an ice rink in Santa Rosa where Charles Schulz, the creator of Peanuts had his coffee every day. The meeting didn't begin auspiciously, since Pastis blurted out: "Hi, Sparky [Schulz's nickname], my name is Stephan Pastis and I'm a lawyer." Schulz turned pale; he thought Pastis was there to serve him with a subpoena. However, he recovered, and Pastis remembers Schulz's graciousness:

"I was a total stranger to him, and he let me sit down at his table and we talked for an hour. I took a picture with him. He looked at some of the strips that I had been doing and gave me some tips. Man, I was on cloud nine."^[1]

In addition to Peanuts, he drew inspiration from The Far Side, Calvin and Hobbes, Bloom County, Doonesbury, and Get Fuzzy.^{[citation needed]}

What worked for me personally was to study the writing of Dilbert. I just bought a bunch of Dilbert books and studied how to write a 3-panel strip. Then I showed them to a group of people who were acquaintances (but not quite friends) in order to get their honest assessment of which ones were funny and which ones weren't. As to the ins and outs of getting syndicated, I bought a book called “Your Career in the Comics” by Lee Nordling.^[9]

Pastis drew about 200 strips for the new comic and selected 40 of the best, but fearing more rejection, let them sit on the counter in his basement for the next two years. It wasn't until 1999, when he visited the grave of a college friend who had been a free spirit and had encouraged him to be the same, that he overcame his fear and submitted them to three different syndicates, including United Features. United took the unprecedented step of first running the strips on its comics.com internet site to gauge reader response. When Scott Adams, Dilbert's creator, who Pastis had never met, endorsed the strip the response "went through the roof".^[5] Pearls debuted in print on December 31, 2001.^{[citation needed]}

Pastis also credits Get Fuzzy cartoonist Darby Conley with contributing to the development of the strip. They met through their syndication attorney, and Conley taught him how to color the Sunday strips and add gray tones to the dailies.^[5]

Eight months afterwards, Pastis gleefully quit his law practice.^[2] Pastis attributes his dissatisfaction with the law in being helpful insofar that "humor is a reaction to and defense against unhappiness",^[2] and that wanting to get out of his job provided him with the impetus to create better comic strips so that he could get selected for syndication.^[5]

Eleven years later, Pearls is still one of the fastest-growing comic strips, appearing in more than 650 newspapers worldwide.^[9] Pastis generally works five to nine months ahead of deadline, a rarity in the world of newspaper comics.^[10]

Pastis' wife, Staci, is sometimes depicted in the strip, usually offering to exchange her husband for a free pizza. They have two children, Thomas and Julia. The family lives in Santa Rosa, California where Pastis is on the board of the Charles Schulz Museum, helping with merchandising rights issues and answering questions about Peanuts.

“Schulz is to comic strips what Marlon Brando was to acting. It was so revolutionary. Before ‘Peanuts,’ the writing was physical, over the top, but Sparky goes inside the soul. His influence on me is enormous. I’ve taken his backgrounds, the front porch, the beach and the TV beanbag. Rat is Lucy, Goat is Linus and Pig is Charlie Brown. Sparky is a template, whether or not you know it, he’s the template.”^[11]

Treasuries[link]

Pastis's first treasury, Sgt. Piggy's Lonely Hearts Club Comic, was published in 2004. In addition to the content of the previous books, BLTs Taste So Darn Good and This Little Piggy Stayed Home, and Sunday strips in full color, Pastis included responses from readers and a section in which he explained why certain strips weren't successful, and how he would have corrected the content. As of 2011^[update], four more treasuries have followed. Each book in the series is subtitled "A Pearls Before Swine Treasury".

1. Sgt. Piggy's Lonely Hearts Club Comic (September 2004, Andrews McMeel Publishing, ISBN 0-7407-4807-6)
2. Lions and Tigers and Crocs, Oh My! (September 2006, Andrews McMeel Publishing, ISBN 0-7407-6155-2)
3. The Crass Menagerie (April 2008, Andrews McMeel Publishing, ISBN 0-7407-7100-0)
4. Pearls Sells Out (August 2009, Andrews McMeel Publishing, ISBN 0-7407-7396-8)
5. Pearls Blows Up (March 2011, Andrews McMeel Publishing, ISBN 1-4494-0106-6)

Blog[link]

Stephan Pastis has his own blog at http://stephanpastis.wordpress.com where he updates his fans. The write-ups are usually humorous, describing his daily life, vacations and trips. He had also described his trip to Iraq in his blog in a series of write-ups starting "Saddamapalooza". His posts are accompanied by doodles from Pearls, or his own photographs.

Awards[link]

Pastis was nominated for the National Cartoonists Society Newspaper Comic Strip Award for 2002, 2003, 2006 and 2007. He won the 2003 and 2006 awards. He was also nominated for The Reuben Awards for the years 2009, 2010 and 2011.^[9]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Pastis's blog
• Short bio (with picture) at The National Cartoonists Society
• Stephan Pastis FAQ at comics.com
• A 'Pearl' of a Strip, Brad Stone, Newsweek, Jul 01, 2005
• Interview with him, among other people
• Some of his previous comics before "Pearls Before Swine"
• Interview with Pastis (December 24, 2006)
• Podcast interview with Pastis

Mark Tatulli (born 1963, Mount Vernon, New York) is a comic strip artist and film maker. He is the recipient of three Emmy Awards^[1][2]. He works for Center City Film & Video.^[1] He lives in New Jersey with his wife and children.^[1]

Comics works[link]

• Bent Halos^[1]
• Heart of the City (November 23, 1998—current)
• Liō (May 15, 2006—current)

Filmography[link]

• Trading Spaces (HGTV, post producer)^[1]
• A Wedding Story (Discovery/TLC, post producer)^[1]

References[link]

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