"Dear Mr. Watterson"

On November 18, 1985, people across the country opened their newspapers (this was back when most people read newspapers) and met a sandy-haired six-year old named Calvin and his stuffed (but sentient) tiger Hobbes.  Calvin was every babysitter's nightmare, the bane of his teachers, Dennis the Menace on speed (but with a much better vocabulary and a more interesting mind). He was a source of nonstop stress for his parents and a constant torment to his neighbor Susie. Of course readers fell in love.

During its 10-year run, Calvin and Hobbes was ultimately carried by 2400 newspapers around the world and translated into approximately 40 languages.

Then on New Year's Eve 1995, surprised readers saw the strip's abrupt end as our boy and his tiger rode a sled into a snowscape of possibility. Unlike many cultural artifacts of the late eighties and early nineties, Calvin and Hobbes are still with us and still loved.

How beloved? Last month when rumors of a new Calvin and Hobbes book got out, the barrage of hits crashed the publisher's website, and the hardcover collection The Complete Calvin and Hobbes is currently sold out at Amazon.

If you're a Calvin and Hobbes fan, come join us at the Central Library, 79 Highland Ave., on April 8 at 7 pm for a screening of Dear Mr. Watterson a documentary exploration of the genius of Calvin and Hobbes, their creator, Sam Watterson, and the love that readers have for them to this day. This critically acclaimed documentary is a love letter to the last great comic strip.