The Cartoonist As Tenacious As Kudzu

Marlette was in Mississippi this week to witness a high school production of "Kudzu," the musical based on his syndicated comic strip.

Wilkie also recalls the famous spats that Marlette engaged in. "He flitted from one controversy to another," Wilkie says.

One was with neighbors and fellow writers in Hillsborough, N.C., over a novel he had written, Wilkie says. Another was with the legendary Tennessee preacher Will Campbell. Marlette based one of the characters in his comic strip on Campbell.

Back in 1998, I spent an afternoon with Marlette and Simpson -- a musician and director of the creative writing program at UNC -- just before "Kudzu," the musical, opened at Ford's Theatre. Marlette looked about as happy as a man can look.

On that day, the musicians were rehearsing. Marlette sat on the floor, back against the wall and legs crossed. He was wearing a wrinkly green jacket. One of his shoes was untied. He had a soft face and a gentle voice with a drawl.

He marveled at the versatility of the musicmakers in the room. "It's so interesting to me how just a change of key can lift something," he said. One of the themes of "Kudzu" was how many Southerners always carry a sense of place with them wherever they roam.

Over the years, Marlette moved around a lot -- from Charlotte to Atlanta to New York and other places in between. He always took along his sense of place. Last year he landed a cartooning job at the Tulsa World.

And then there was the time last summer when Simpson went to visit Marlette in Oklahoma. "We went out for barbecue," he remembers. "Surprise."