Bil Keane - Friends

Friends

• Keane had a close friendship with humorist, newspaper columnist and fellow Catholic Erma Bombeck. Keane provided illustrations for Bombeck's book Just Wait Until You Have Children of Your Own! (1972), and considered himself instrumental in convincing Bombeck and her family to move to Arizona near his home. In 1996, he was a pall bearer at Bombeck's funeral.
• Stephan Pastis, creator of Pearls Before Swine, acknowledged he was good friends with Keane and Keane's son, Jeff. Pastis has parodied The Family Circus in his own strip and Keane wrote a satirical attack as a foreword for Pastis' book Macho Macho Animals.

• Keane switched with Scott Adams of Dilbert in the 1997 comic strip switcheroo. Adams said, "Bil was a misunderstood creative genius who knew how to write for his target audience. He was also a great guy. I was a big fan."

• Keane also counted fellow cartoonists Charles M. Schulz (Peanuts) and Mell Lazarus (Miss Peach) as close friends.

• In 1994 the characters from The Family Circus made a "guest appearance" in Bill Griffith's Zippy the Pinhead comic strip. Griffith sad, "I remembered Bil’s affection for Zippy, so I decided to bite the bullet and call him to ask if, instead of me parodying his strip, he’d agree to jam with me..." The characters were drawn into the strip by Keane, but the dialog was written by Griffith. Then, on March 7, 1995, Zippy made an appearance in a Family Circus panel, drawn in by Bill Griffith. Griffith said Family Circus was "the last remaining folk art strip." Griffith said, "It's supposed to be the epitome of squareness, but it turns the corner into a hip zone."