Tom Wilson ZIGGY Autobio Book

Did you know that Tom Wilson wrote an autobiographical book out about him and his Dad, who created ZIGGY? I didn't. It came out last month.

ZIG-ZAGGING: LOVING MADLY, LOSING BADLY – HOW ZIGGY SAVED MY LIFE is a 212 page inspirational autobiography of Tom Wilson, sprinkled with ZIGGY cartoons.

Here's an excerpt from the Universal Press site:

In his new memoir, ZIG-ZAGGING: LOVING MADLY, LOSING BADLY – HOW ZIGGY SAVED MY LIFE, Tom Wilson describes the game he would play as a boy with his father, Ziggy creator Tom Wilson Sr.

"This game of ours always began the same. Dad would draw a picture of Ziggy happily strolling along, unaware of some horrible misfortune about to befall him. Ziggy might be zooming off a cliff, walking unknowingly into an open manhole, or oblivious to a meteor plummeting head-on his way. After Ziggy had been drawn into one of these dire circumstances, Dad would flip the placemat around, hand me his pen, and say, "Tommy, it's time for you to SAVE ZIGGY!"

By the mid 1980s, with his father in failing health, Tom really would step in to save the character his father created, which he has been writing and illustrating for over 20 years.

But years later, the younger Wilson was hit with a series of struggles: his leg was crushed in a car accident, his wife died at age 44 of breast cancer, and he was left with their two sons and his seriously ill father. Wilson’s faith was overtaken by depression.

With his trademark humor and self-effacing wisdom, Tom invites you into his intimate life as he searches for hope and strength to overcome his own life detours. In an ironic twist of art imitating life, Tom reveals how Ziggy's own weekly syndicated quest for answers was the unforeseen catalyst that enabled him to say yes to life again and face his greatest challenges.

Below: Tom Wilson's hand draws a 35th anniversary sketch of ZIGGY for a 2006 MSNBC report. Another cartoonist who uses a Pigma Micron!


Big hat tip to Tom Spurgeon!