Phil Frank (TOON artist behind Farley and The Elderberries) is retiring

Dear Farley Readers,
I have enjoyed putting pen to paper and creating the Farley strip for the past 32 years. But my greatest joy has been my association with readers of the strip since it first appeared as an exclusive feature in the San Francisco in 1985. The readers of Farley have been the real heroes — continuing to provide me with some of the strips best ideas and characters by phone, letters, faxes and emails. It is your input and support that has given the Farley strip it's heart and soul and has made my job so much fun.
Thank you from a grateful cartoonist.
Yours,
Phil Frank

Farley, Elderberries cartoonist Phil Frank retiring due to illness
Carl Nolte, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, September 9, 2007

(09-09) 04:00 PDT San Francisco -- Phil Frank, the creator of the Farley and Elderberries comic strips, is laying down his drawing pen. That means Farley himself, who lives in a world of feral cats, ravens, park rangers, gurus, wild pigs and political figures, is retiring.
The characters in the Elderberries - crotchety old ladies and gents who live in a retirement home - will continue, but under new management.
Frank, who is 64, is retiring because of a serious illness that has kept him confined to his home in Sausalito for several months and has made it impossible for him to continue to draw the strips.
Frank has drawn the Farley strip for 32 years, and the cartoon character, a rumpled newspaper reporter and sometime park ranger who is the central figure, has become Frank's alter ego.
more:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/09/MNGVRAA1M.DTL

A few tributes and toons: