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Mimi Pond

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Mimi Pond
OccupationWriter, cartoonist, illustrator
LanguageEnglish
NationalityUnited States
GenreComedy
Notable work"Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire"
SpouseWayne White
Website
mimipond.com

Mimi Pond is an American cartoonist, comics artist, illustrator, humorist, and writer.

Career and awards

Pond spent much of the 80s and 90s writing for television, magazines, and creating cartoons and comic strips for both mediums.

She briefly worked on The Simpsons, writing the first full-length broadcast episode, "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" in 1989,[1] which was nominated for two Emmy awards.[2] Pond, however, did not become a regular member of the writing team, and she alleged it was because the showrunner at the time did not want a woman on the team.[3] She is primarily a cartoonist and illustrator and she got her first big break as a weekly cartoonist with Spectator Magazine. Some of her other early work during the 1980s included creating for publications such as, the National Lampoon, The Village Voice, The New York Times, Adweek, and others. She is the author and illustrator of five humor books and currently contributes to the Los Angeles Times. She won the PEN Center USA award for Graphic Literature Outstanding Body of Work, with a special mention for her 2014 graphic novel, Over Easy, for Canadian publisher Drawn & Quarterly.[4] Pond also won an Inkpot Award in 2014 at the San Diego Comic-Con, after the release of Over Easy.[5]

Pond has also written for Designing Women on CBS[6] and Pee-Wee's Playhouse,[7] as well as being a cartoonist for the Los Angeles Times[8] and other publications.[9] She also wrote a long-running full page comic for Seventeen Magazine from the 1980s – 1990s.

Following her book Shoes Never Lie, the Boston Globe described her as "perhaps the leading authority on the spiritual, emotional and visceral connection between women and shoes" (for a story on the shoe collection of Imelda Marcos).[10]

Graphic memoirs

She has also written two graphic memoirs, Over Easy and The Customer is Always Wrong. The two memoirs are loosely based on Pond's own life and sequentially work together as one large story arc. The subject matter is primarily focused on her time as a waitress in Oakland, trying to become a full-time artist after her studies.

Over Easy

Pond spent over 15 years working on the graphic narrative, however, the idea had been sitting with her since her time as a waitress in an Oakland, California restaurant during the 1970s.[11] Over Easy is a coming of age story about a young Margaret Pond as she works at Imperial Café, a diner full of hippies and punks in the late 70s. It is in this diner that Margaret makes the transition into 'Madge' and gets a glimpse at adulthood, which includes addiction, confusion, awkward moments, the artist dream, and sexual awakenings. Over Easy encapsulates 1970s Oakland in a witty, slightly fictionalized, memoir of Pond's experiences. The memoir also gained a significant amount of praise from journals and news publications such as, USA Today,The Comics Journal, NPR, Publishers Weekly, The National Post and more.[12]

The Customer is Always Wrong

In 2017, Pond released her second graphic memoir and continuation of the narrative in Over Easy. Madge is still working at the vibrant Imperial Café in Oakland, is surrounded by similar misfits in the restaurant, and still has the dream to become an artist. In The Customer is Always Wrong, Madge finally makes the decision to save up enough money to get out of the West coast and head East to New York where she could pursue her art full-time. The second novel also has a darker tone to it compared to the first part of the story, making the subject matter difficult for Pond to relive as she created the story.[13] The Customer is Always Wrong was well received by fans, similar to the first memoir. It gained praise from publications such as PEN America, Entertainment Weekly, Vulture and more.[14]

Personal life

Pond is married to cartoonist and artist Wayne White.[1] They have two children together, Woodrow and Lulu White, who are both artists.[15]

In the 1970s, Pond worked at Mama's Royal Café, which became the inspiration for her graphic memoirs.[13]

Education

In the 1970s, Pond attended the California College of the Arts (CCA) for an art degree.[16]

Bibliography

  • The Valley Girls' Guide to Life. Dell Publishing Co. 1982. ISBN 978-0-440-59334-8.
  • Mimi Pond's Secrets of the Powder Room. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. 1983. ISBN 978-0-03-063253-2.
  • Shoes Never Lie. Berkley Pub Group. 1985. ISBN 978-0-425-08104-4.
  • A Groom of One's Own, and Other Bridal Accessories. Penguin USA. 1991. ISBN 978-0-452-26945-3.
  • Splitting Hairs: The Bald Truth About Bad Hair Days. Simon & Schuster. 1998. ISBN 978-0-684-82643-1.
  • Over Easy. Drawn & Quarterly. 2014. ISBN 978-1-77046-153-6.
  • The Customer Is Always Wrong. Drawn & Quarterly. 2017. ISBN 978-1-77046-282-3.

References

  1. ^ a b "Mimi Pond". Lambiek.net. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  2. ^ "The Simpsons". Emmy's.
  3. ^ Loughrey, Clarisse (17 August 2017). "The Simpsons: Writer of first episode says she was kept out of the writer's room for being a woman". The Independent. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  4. ^ The 24th Annual Literary Awards Archived 2014-10-31 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ ToucanBlog (2014-10-15). "2014 Inkpot Award Winners Photo Gallery". Comic-Con. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
  6. ^ Wappler, Margaret (9 April 2014). "L.A. Times". "Mimi Pond graphic novel 'Over Easy' pairs sharp humor, feminism". Retrieved 18 January 2017 – via Google News.
  7. ^ "Pee-Wee's Playhouse: Rebarella". TV.com. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  8. ^ "Cartoons by Mimi Pond". Los Angeles Times.
  9. ^ 89.3 KPCC | Perspectives | Mimi Pond Archived 2006-09-29 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ White, Diane (April 16, 1986). "Shoe Withdrawal". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2008-01-07.
  11. ^ Matheson, Whitney. "Q&A: Cartoonist and 'Over Easy' author Mimi Pond". USA Today. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  12. ^ "Over Easy by Mimi Pond". Drawn and Quarterly. 2014-01-24.
  13. ^ a b Staeger, Rob (2017-09-26). "Interview: Mimi Pond wraps her coming-of-age tale with 'The Customer Is Always Wrong'". The Beat. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  14. ^ The Customer is Always Wrong by Mimi Pond. 2016-10-11. Retrieved 30 November 2018. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  15. ^ Pagel, David (19 February 2011). "Wayne White tells his life story one slide at a time". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  16. ^ Braun, Luara. "Mimi Pond: From Over Easy to Sunny-Side Up". California College of the Arts. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
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