Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Following the successful debut of his first collection of cartoons, Napanee Beaver cartoonist Tim Nimigan is back with a second helping in Our Town is Your Town.
A special event to celebrate the launch had been scheduled at the Lennox and Addington Community Museum and Archives, but that’s been put on hold for the time being due to COVID-19. For now copies of the book, which sell for $19.95, are available by contacting Nimigan directly through Facebook or emailing Tim.Nimigan@Sympatico.ca.
The book features six and a half years worth of his popular Our Town cartoon strip, which were featured in the Beaver between autumn of 2013 and April of this year. Similar to the first book, Our Town is Your Town includes notes from Nimigan that give a bit of a back story to some of the cartoons. Wanting to keep a similar format as the previous book, he once again turned to his former NDSS Art student Erin Wattam to do the design.
Now in its 17th year, the Our Town strip has stayed true to its original intent-to offer a light hearted look at small town rural life.
Inspired by life in Greater Napanee, Nimigan continues to find a way to offer a fresh take on rural life for his bi-weekly cartoon.
“If I see an idea I jot down a note about it,” said Nimigan. “It may not be something that’s right ready to go in terms of being a fully developed idea but it percolates and then when I need a cartoon I go back to that list.”
Some weeks are easier than others, he says.
“There have been times where it has been quite tight,” Nimigan says of coming up with an idea for a cartoon. “I have literally gone to bed the night before a cartoon is due with no ideas to what I’m going to do. I set my alarm early and I get up and either instantaneously somehow I have an idea or that one that was percolating, I figured out how to twig it so that I was happy with it.”
His wife Debbie is also a constant source of ideas when he’s really stuck. Then there’s also been times when Beaver readers come to the rescue with a suggestion. In those instances, Nimigan will offer then a tip of the cap by finding a way to sneak their name into the cartoon.
“I do get people from time to time that give me an idea, if it’s politically based I don’t touch it,” said Nimigan.
Though he may derive an idea from the odd political issue, he makes sure to never make a political statement with the cartoon.
While there’s no denying the Napanee influence in his drawings, the cartoons have an appeal beyond the Beaver’s circulation. Nimigan strives to make them relatable to all small town communities. That appeal is evident by the fact his cartoon has finished in the top three of the Canadian Community Newspapers Best Local Cartoon, Circulation 10,000 and Over for five years running, including a first place finish in 2018.
His first book, Our Town: A View Of Life In A Small Town and Beyond, was well received, selling out the first run print of 500 copies within the first two months.