Chagrin Valley Little Theatre

Hear Who's HereJenny Campbell

Performance Dates & Tickets

About the Event

'The Year That Trembled' is one of 1998's Milestones in Fiction — Powerful!
The Denver Post

The "Hear Who's Here" series will showcase the journeys and favorite career highlights of Chagrin Falls area professionals.  The talks will be held at 7:00 p.m., the first Wednesday of each month, beginning March, and feature:

• March 2nd: Amy Sancetta, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Associated Press (AP) photographer;
• April 6th: Scott Lax, author, columnist and speaker;
• May 4th: Jenny Campbell, nationally-syndicated cartoonist and illustrator.

Jenny Campbell

Cartoonist Jenny Campbell will discuss the unusual story of how the nationally-syndicated cartoon strip “Flo & Friends” was developed; how she continues to create that cartoon strip; and what she illustrates in addition to “Flo & Friends.”  She will share the ongoing, creative process of producing the cartoon and public reactions to it.  Audience goers will enjoy watching her draw right in front of them, as her presentation will be accompanied by paper and easel.

She will be selling greeting cards, signed prints of her cartoon strips and other art. Her children’s books will also be available for sale, including books from the three books she created with author Sandra J. Philipson.

The concept of syndication has been familiar to Jenny Campbell since her high school days in Phoenix, Ariz. That's when her father, Don G. Campbell, a longtime business writer, got his first syndication deal.

Watching her father work hard instilled in Jenny a love of writing and journalism. Throughout college she worked full time at The Arizona Republic, starting as the paper's first female copyboy. She went on to become a picture editor, occasional feature writer and sometime cartoonist. When she graduated from Arizona State University in 1979 with a BA in journalism, she became a sixth-generation journalist.

After graduation, Jenny moved to California and landed a job at the Pasadena Star-News by posing as an accomplished artist. In addition to being a one-person art department, Jenny also wrote a weekly local column, covered myriad features and worked the Friday night police beat.

In 1985, while working at The Orange County Register as a general assignment entertainment writer, Jenny kept doodling and ended up drawing a weekly cartoon in the Friday entertainment supplement. The cartooning bug had bitten her. She felt as though she was the only writer in the building who secretly longed to win a Caldecott Award rather than a Pulitzer. At age 32, Jenny moved to Philadelphia to live with a friend and start her new career as a cartoonist.

She made $3,000 her first year.

Gradually, her work picked up and she found her niche as a children's illustrator. Today, Jenny runs a thriving cartooning business in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, with 12 children's books to her credit and a list of clients including the textbook arms of most major publishers and Highlights for Children magazine.

Jenny was approached in 2002 by John Gibel, who had an idea for a comic strip about seniors. But, John confessed, "I'm not funny and I can't draw." Luckily, Jenny filled in where John lacked, and as a team, they created Flo and Friends. Tragically, John died suddenly in early 2005. With his family's blessing, Jenny inherited sole ownership of the strip and has vowed to make it a success in John's honor.

Jenny lives in Ohio with a 70-pound cross-eyed black lab mix and a geriatric cat with the heart of a cheetah. When she's not up all night drawing cartoons, she's on her bicycle or on a tennis court. She dedicates her work to her late father, who had a deep and abiding love of cartoons and cartoonists.

www.campbellcartooning.com

Hear Who's Here Series

Look at the people around you.  Look at who is in front of you, in line at the grocery store; next to you, in the movie theatre.  Ever wonder what they do for a living?  Chances are quite a few of them are artistically-gifted and famous beyond the Chagrin Valley. 

Such were the serendipitous discoveries of Gary Gottfried, a Chagrin Falls Village resident. Over the past few years, working and relaxing in town, he met and became acquainted with people who shared his village haunts but, as he learned, had special talents.

The Chagrin Valley Little Theatre (CVLT) is proud to profile these interesting community members.  Gottfried, co-organizer Sandra J. Philipson and a host of CVLT volunteers have launched a three-speaker event, to be held monthly at the River St. Playhouse, 56 River Street; part of and adjacent to the Chagrin Valley Little Theatre’s main stage in Chagrin Falls Village. 

Sponsored by Geiger’s Ski & Sport Haus and Rick’s Cafe of Chagrin Falls Village, the series is expected to be part of ongoing programming, introducing talented Chagrin Valley residents to the community. 

Referring to the series’ title, Gottfried said, “It’s a great name because it says who is here:  people who are regionally- and nationally-recognized.  Here are quality artists, people we don’t even pay attention to.  There are all these people here right under our noses.”

A speaker meet-and-greet session, following each talk, will include complementary refreshments and items for sale including: Sancetta’s photographs; Lax’s book and movie; and Campbell’s books, greeting card line and illustrations. 

Based on the first series’ success, other events will be organized for later dates, again featuring accomplished area neighbors. 

“We have enough talent in the valley to keep this series going for a long time,” Philipson said.