One of the best things for me about the Mid-Ohio Con last week was seeing my friend, Herb Trimpe…though not for a long enough time. Most of you who know comics know Herb for his Marvel work in the late sixties and seventies, especially a fine stint drawing The Incredible Hulk. That all ended for Herb in 1996 when the folks then in power at the company decided his artwork was old-fashioned…or maybe it was just that the readers don't want to buy comics drawn by someone over a certain age that Herb was over. Whatever the thinking, he was out…and he bravely took his story to the pages of The New York Times with this article.
Herb has been doing other things since then, mostly of an educational nature. After 9/11 though, he found another activity that I find fascinating. He spent eight months working at and around Ground Zero in New York as a chaplain, helping people to cope with the death and destruction that had abruptly entered their lives that horrible day. To hear him tell it, it was a depressing, life-changing experience in some ways but highly inspirational in another.
He authored a book about his experiences. Herb tells me he made almost no money off the book but is glad he wrote it, just to record his feelings and observations about this job of mercy. For me, it was can't-put-it-down reading and I'd like to suggest you pick up a copy. You can snag one at Amazon via this link. If you're doing Christmas shopping over there, toss one in your cart for yourself…not because the guy used to draw great comics but because he had an important experience, and the passion and skill to share it with us.