Hinderliter John - Who Is Jeff Kinney?

In Patricia and Brian Kinneys home in Virginia, there is a framed newspaper article hanging on the wall. The headline reads: Igdoof Takes On the Real World. There is a photo of their son Jeff, twenty-two years old, grinning next to a drawing of a bug-eyed cartoon character. That character was Igdoof. In college, Jeff wrote and illustrated a popular comic strip about him. The article predicted that Jeff would have no trouble becoming a professional cartoonist. That was his dream.

But after several years of disappointment, Jeff wasnt so sure. When he came home to visit his parents, hed look at the article and frown. He wondered if his dream would ever come true.

In college, Jeff had been a celebrity. Fans of Igdoof asked Jeff for his autograph. They wore T-shirts with characters from his comic strip on them. Besides Igdoof, there was a green bean named Pooshfa. Another was Jerome, a man with incredibly red lips.

But to become a professional cartoonist, Jeff needed a syndicate. Thats a company that sells comic strips to newspapers all over the United States. The trouble was, no syndicate liked Igdoof.

The rejection letters began piling up. One thing became clear to Jeff. His illustrations werent good enough. They didnt look as professional as the artwork in Calvin and Hobbes, The Far Side, and other comic strips in the big newspapers. Jeffs drawings looked more like the doodles of a kid in middle school. Even so, Jeff knew he had funny ideas. He just needed a way to share them with an audience, the way he had in college.

Jeff got an idea that might work. What if he wrote an illustrated journal from the point of view of a middle-school kid? Then his drawings wouldnt have to be all that good.

That idea was the beginning of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, one of the most popular childrens books ever.

COMICS: NOT JUST FOR LAUGHS

COMIC STRIPS ARE CALLED THE FUNNIES FOR A REASON. USUALLY THEY MAKE PEOPLE LAUGH. PEANUTS, GARFIELD, AND FAMILY CIRCUS ARE ALL COMICS WRITTEN FOR THIS REASON.

BUT SOME COMICS ARE MORE THAN FUNNY PICTURES AND JOKES. POLITICAL CARTOONS MIX HUMOR WITH A MESSAGE. FOR EXAMPLE, IN DOONESBURY, GARRY TRUDEAU HUMOROUSLY EXPRESSES HIS OWN VIEWS ON SOCIETY AND EVENTS HAPPENING IN THE REAL WORLD.

On February 19, 1971, Brian Kinney arrived at the Malcolm Grow Medical Facility, the hospital on Andrews Air Force Base in Prince Georges County, Maryland. He got there just minutes after his wife, Patricia, gave birth to their third child. He was disappointed that he hadnt been able to make it in time. But when he saw his newborn son, Brian felt incredibly proud. Weighing ten pounds, which is a lot for a newborn, Jeff looked strong and healthy. There was certainly nothing wimpy about him.

Brian was an officer in the United States Navy. Patricia was a full-time mother. After leaving the hospital, the Kinneys brought Jeff to their home in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. There, Jeff met his older sister and brotherAnnmarie and Scottfor the first time. Scott, who was only three at the time, thought that Jeff was cute. Hes a doorbell, he said. He meant to say adorable.

But being a younger brother was sometimes hard. As Jeff got a little older, Annmarie and Scott played pranks on him. On the first day of summer vacation one year, Scott woke Jeff up very early. Jeff was only about seven years old. Scott told him to get ready for school. He said that Jeff had slept through the entire vacation. Hed even missed the familys trip to Disney World! Jeff got up and rushed to get dressed for school. It took several minutes before he realized it was a joke.

The family moved to Fort Washington, Maryland, when Jeff was three. Not long after, in 1976, there was happy news. Patrick Kinney was born. Finally, Jeff had a little brother. He wasnt the youngest or smallest Kinney kid.

Jeff was good at being a big brother. Hed build mazes out of pillows and blankets for Patrick to crawl through. On hot summer nights, the brothers often slept in the cool basement. Patrick would lie awake listening to his big brother tell jokes and make up funny stories. Often, theyd laugh so much that their dad would come downstairs and yell at them to knock it off and go to sleep.