June 22, 1997 contents

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(Globe Staff Photo / Mark Wilson)

William Steig

One of the most prolific New Yorker cover illustrators and cartoonists for more than 65 years, William Steig has also created some 30 children's books. He is 89 and lives in Back Bay.

You once said, ``For some reason, I've never felt grown up.''

Did I say that? It's true. Grownups do things they don't enjoy, and that's very stupid, though it's not their fault. Grown-ups are victims of a crazy system: A guy will work 50 years at the same job, hate it, and when he retires and goes to Florida, he misses this way of life. It's hard to imagine a world where everybody does something meaningful and pleasurable.

As a child, didn't you yearn to be an adult?

I existed in the beginning of the century, when streets were lit by gaslight and fire engines were pulled by horses. I remember when I first put long pants on - when I was a teenager, you used to go to longies from short pants. But I realized that long pants didn't make me a grownup; they just made me look like one.

How did you become a cartoonist?

It was necessity. It was the big crash, and my father lost all his savings and his work. My two older brothers were married, and my younger brother was a teenager, and the old man said, ``Bill, I'm afraid it's up to you.'' I had gone to art school. I decided, ``I'll make cartoons.'' I sold my first drawings to a magazine called Judge. There were Judge and Life, both humorous magazines - did you know that? And I finally sold to The New Yorker, and they paid 40 bucks a drawing then, in 1930. You sold to New Yorker first, then you went to the $25 market, Life and Judge, and all the way down to the $5 market. The first year, I earned something like $4,800 and supported my family in quite good style. I took care of my folks until they died.

Did you have any regrets about working then?

Yes. Because my ambition was to go to sea and be a beachcomber, but I was nipped in the bud.

Are you still working?

Yeah. I'm working on three children's books. And I still sell stuff to The New Yorker, though they don't print it. They've got hundreds of things, including a cover that I gave them about 40 years ago, and in a way it gets me angry. A lot of people complain that their stuff disappears into the archives there.

Is writing for children hard?

Only if the editor isn't pleased. Otherwise, it's as easy as pie. I began writing children's books at age 60 - a whole new ballgame, but I only did one a year. A small book, if you're functioning well, you can write pretty quickly, a few days or a few weeks. The illustrating is more time-consuming: I hate to illustrate my books, because I find it hard to repeat scenes and characters. It looks bad to me. By the way, one of my books is going to be an animation from the big guys, Dreamworks [co-owned by Steven Spielberg]. It's the one called Shrek. They're making a movie out of that one.

Will it make you rich?

It's not that much. I'll tell you what it is: They paid me $500,000. And that's it. When I heard ``movies,'' I was thinking in terms of millions. I gave them some ideas, because the book takes 10 minutes to read, and the movie's going to be 70 minutes. I wrote out a bunch of suggestions; thinking of ideas for a movie is fun. I can't say I've been abused.

Most of your drawings have a feathery, light line. Why?

Because I'm having fun.

Who are artists you admire and were influenced by?

A whole slew. I loved Daumier when I was young. I like all the old masters. I adore Rembrandt's drawings. I'm nuts about van Gogh. My favorite artist now is Picasso.

How do you feel about his current image as an abusive womanizer?

I don't think that's true. First of all, I don't think it's natural for a guy to be committed to one person. We've [Steig and his wife, Jeanne, a writer and artist] each been married four times. Lifetime commitment is a pretty tough thing. Picasso wasn't committed that way. He was a good mate, I think.

Will you stay married?

Yes. Jeanne is the nicest person I ever met, and that's my sincere opinion.

What gives you pleasure these days?

I'm a TV addict, though I find it's a horrible medium. I'm too tired to get up and do something better. I love football on TV, and I watch the guy with the suspenders [Larry King] - he's sort of amusing, but he has too much advertising; it's a real pain.

You were a good athlete as a young man.

I made the All-American water polo team when I was 16.

Do you still swim?

No. I can swim, but where?

A pool.

I wouldn't be seen naked; I'm too vain. My last dive impressed everybody. I did a back somersault into the water with all my clothes, about six years ago. Now I think my body's old and ugly. I remember when I was young, looking with pity at all the bony guys. I feel sorry for old people.

Do you feel sorry for yourself?

Not that I'm aware of.