EDWARD BERGEN

The contributor is a Lutheran Pastor in the state of Illinois and his great interest in the universe of Barks has brought him to start the international 'Carl Barks Fan Club' for which he is the president.

The first contact

I first saw the name of Carl Barks in the May, 1982, issue of TIME Magazine with a article by Jay Cocks describing the leather-bound volume of Scrooge stories that the editor of STAR WARS had collected in commemoration of Carl's 80th birthday. I bought the book and also called Directory Assistance on the phone to try and get Carl's 'phone #, then in California ... but the operator ALSO gave me his address!!!
So I wrote to Carl. He sent a nice letter back with a small image of Another Rainbow's first lithograph ("Spanish Main" to be released that year (1982) and a word about how he was now rendering the ducks in oils in his "retirement". Later, I tried to visit Carl (and Garé, his wife) in 1985 and 1988 but the first year Carl and Garé were moving to Oregon and in 1988, Garé was ill, so the visits never materialized. Finally in 1990 I was able to meet Carl and Garé. What GREAT people! I had Carl sign many of my books and even received a sketch of the 5 ducks from him during that initial visit! He was also very kind to me in future years, as I would go out to visit him every year after that, in signing virtually any item that I asked him to sign!

I, as millions of others, had grown up reading and loving the Uncle Scrooge stories especially! My favorite story was the "Philosopher's Stone" (U$10) but I remember loving many other stories as well. I never thought (or even gave it a thought) that so someday I would be able to meet the creator of all those stories I had enjoyed during my childhood. My Mom, unlike many Moms, had saved all my comics but, because they had been read and re-read, they are not in the best condition.
Carl still signed them for me over the years ... and would sign others that I would find in antique stores and other places. Some years we would go to lunch with some of Carl's other friends. Carl was always gracious and always very solicitous of his fans. 

Yet another talent

When I was first privileged to meet Carl in 1990, I (as many others before me) was impressed with his humility and at his surprise of all his noteriety re: the Disney Ducks! He always said that all he was doing was "hack work" for Disney during the years that he both wrote and drew the comic book stories (25 years, as a matter of fact!). He was a very soft-spoken man who would always appear to think before he spoke (a rare person these days). 
He was always wanting to please fans (and I was no exception) and one of the best little anecdotes about Carl came during my first visit in 1990 when, during my first visit on Saturday night, Carl was busy taking pictures of me as one of his fans. When I was able to visit him again the next evening, at which time he completed a little sketch for me after Garé, his wife had had him look through his files, Carl suddenly disappeared as I went out to show Garé and a couple of other friends the sketch that Carl had completed for me. After Garé reminded me to have the sketch archivally matted and framed, I asked whether Garé thought that Carl and I could have our picture taken together with the sketch. Garé said that she thought that Carl had used all his film the prior evening taking pictures of me as one of his fans! 
Suddenly Carl reappeared (not having heard Garé's and my conversation re: the picture with the sketch) with camera in hand and said, "Where do we stand" ... and then we had one of Carl's and my friends there with us take a couple of pictures of Carl and me holding the sketch of the 5 Ducks (from a scene from "Land Beneath The Ground"). 
I flew back to Chicago/Crystal Lake the next day ... and a few days later, here in the mail come the pictures of Carl and me holding the sketch ... and Carl had "signed" his person on both pictures. Needless to say I have one of those color photos framed along with the sketch!
As you can see, Carl was kind and thoughtful to a fault! With all his world-wide noteriety, he was a real human being always willing to extend himself to and for his fans!

The European Tour

I do remember traveling (along with Malcolm Willits who "discovered" back in the 1950s that Carl Barks was the name behind the Disney Ducks ... he had written Disney and they finally revealed to Malcolm for the first time, Carl's name with Carl Barks and his two managers at the time, Bill Grandy and Kathy Morby, on the Stuttgart to Munich "leg" of Carl's European tour in 1994). A grouping of Carl's oil paintings traveled along with him and were exhibited at various museums along the way (Copenhagen, Stuttgart, Milan, and Paris ... along with a few other cities I think). The Press were in attendance at every turn it seemed. 
A German artist, Gottfried Helnwein, was also presenting a museum exhibition of Carl's works (mostly original pen & ink pages and pencil sketches) beginning in 1994 (it lasted until 1998) and when we arrived in Munich, Carl ended up appearing at the Catto gallery right across the street from the Munich Stadtmuseum where Gottfried's exhibition was taking place. Because of some "legal" difficulties, Carl wasn't able to "cross the street" to see what was an excellent presentation of his work (Gottfried is a world-renowned artist himself who knows how to showcase an exhibition).
Malcolm and I had several breakfasts with Carl and Bill & Kathy and were even invited to the farewell dinner for Carl in Munich at the Vierjahreszeiten Hotel! I was later able to go up to Carl's room after the dinner and watch news footage with Carl of his "entry" into Munich earlier that week. As I recall, it was about a 30 minute show!

The Helnwein exhibition was excellent and the press was covering it extensively. When I arrived at the exhibit earlier that morning (before Carl appeared at the gallery across the street) Gottfried happened to be there and escorted me around the various sections of the exhibition. 
Earlier, in February, 1994, Gottfried had flown me over to his castle "Auf Der Berg" in Burgbrohl, Germany, to bring 5 original Barks pieces that he wanted to include in his exhibition. Here I was able to meet him again in Munich at the Stadtsmuseum and with Press surrounding us, he escorted me through the various venues. At one point, there was a camera crew filming around a letter that Carl had sent to Gottfried years before that was displayed there in the exhibition gallery. Also, Carl's original drawing desk (on loan from Don Ault in Florida) with drawing materials as well as Erika Fuchs' desk and lettering materials were in the exhibition.  Erika had been Carl's "translator" for the comic stories and was responsible for translating Carl's words into the German idiom.

The philatelic comic book

During Carl's last years we did some projects together. My favorite is the philatelic comic book commemorating the 50th anniversary of Scrooge's first appearance in "Christmas On Bear Mountain" that I was instrumental in getting published through "International Governmental Philatelic Corporation" of New York City who had a Disney license from 1979-99 to produce Disney postage stamps (Editor's note: See The Paintings and The Collectibles). 
It was the first-ever philatelic comic book that produced, on stamps, the whole Scrooge first-appearance story! I wrote the "Tribute to Carl Barks" on the back of the booklet as well as all of the text on one of the pages showing a picture of Carl in his studio and his water color rendering of a "Bear Mountain" image (to also commemorate the 50th anniversary of Scrooge's first appearance in 1947).
Barks/Scrooge collectors have been eager to acquire 1 or more of the only 91 booklets that I was able to have Carl sign, as the booklet was only on-sale for about 8 months before IGPC lost the Disney license and could no longer sell ANY of the Disney stamps it had produced for the governments of many smaller nations for the past 20 years! So this booklet should be one of the rarest items that they ever produced since if was on sale for such a short period of time.

EUREKA!

Now, here's a description of one of the days I spent with Carl in 1996, I think it was. I had just come from Florida where I had attended Carl's 95th birthday bash at Disney World and that year I was flying right out to Oregon to make my annual visit to Carl's home. Of course, the Studio was still in existence and Bill and Kathy were still "managing" Carl's affairs. I flew out to Oregon and rented a car, as I usually did, at the Medford airport. Upon my arrival in Grants Pass and at Bill & Kathy's house (which was right next to Carl's on Oregon Street), we began talking about the plans for the "EUREKA! A Goose Egg Nugget!" painting that Malcolm Willits and I had proposed to Carl during our visit some days before in Florida.

Carl had said he would consider doing a painting depicting Uncle Scrooge actually discovering his famed "Goose Egg" Nugget and I was now going to pursue that concept with Carl during my visit to his studio. Bill mentioned to me that Carl was considering a horizontal design, but told me that he and Kathy felt that a vertical design would be "stronger", but that it would be better if such a suggestion would actually come from me as Malcolm and I were actually considering the purchase of the painting after Carl would complete it. I then went up to see Carl at his beautiful new home next door and we immediately went downstairs to his new studio where we looked together at his preliminary (and horizontal) pencil sketch. We talked about the format of the painting for awhile and came to the conclusion together that a vertical format would probably be more striking given the image of Uncle Scrooge (with raised pick ax) that would be the central focus of the painting. 
I remember that Carl had already chosen the frame that would house the painting when he completed it, and, as kind of a "spoof", I took of picture of Carl holding the empty frame with Carl smiling broadly as if he were holding the actual framed completed painting! It was a comical moment!

Carl and I also spoke about his birthday party that we had both just attended at the Contemporary Hotel at Disney World a few days before. Carl had enjoyed himself (as much as he enjoyed travel) and had been particularly taken with the "ceremony" where he, accompanied by Bill & Kathy, and myself, had taken the short "journey" at the MGM Studios Disney park, the day after his actual birthday party, to place his hands in cement, as one of the Disney legends, at Disney's re-creation of Grauman's Chinese Theater there at MGM. Bill and I had followed the car carrying Carl and Kathy and a Disney driver with cameras in hand photographically documenting every moment of Carl's trip to Disney immortality! Those attending the MGM park that day joined in the festivities.
We also spoke about the 70+ original watercolor pencil paintings that Carl had completed for the birthday party and how well they had sold to some of the attendees. Each party goer had been allowed to place a gold-like coin in one of the "safes" which accompanied each painting.
During a drawing for each painting, a gold coin was drawn, and that attendee was allowed to purchase the painting. Not all paintings sold in this manner, so Disney offered them for sale after the birthday dinner at the California Grill at the top of the Contemporary Hotel.
Following the dinner, I was also making the birthday speech in honor of Carl to all the attendees, but the secondary painting sale following the dinner acted as some competition for the actual speech and the after-dinner party where gifts were given to Carl.

I left Carl to further ponder the ultimate design and formatting of the "EUREKA!" painting for, as I told him, YOU'RE the artist, Carl!  What do I really know about painting construction as simply one who appreciates your work? I did say to Carl that I thought that Scrooge should be actually lifting the "Goose Egg Nugget" out of the waters of White Agony Creek in the painting, as I thought depicting the actual "seminal moment" when Scrooge discovered the foundation of his entire money bin fortune would be important as future historians consideration the full range of Carl's Scrooge images in oil.
I didn't know it at the time, but when the actual painting arrived some months later, Carl had given "EUREKA!" a double "pedigree"!  It was not only designated as Carl's "official" image for the centennial of the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898, but Carl had ALSO designated it as his "official" image for the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Scrooge McDuck comic book character in 1947, in his ultra-famous comic book story, "Christmas On Bear Moutain"! 
What an honor for "EUREKA!" to be assigned (by Carl himself) this double "pedigree", which is written in oil on the reverse of the 14"x11" (355x280mm) painting itself!

Fan mail

I was also in attendance at Carl's 99th birthday on March 27, 1999, in Grants Pass, Oregon, a while after Carl had been diagnosed with leukemia but was doing OK at that point. We took many pictures (as I have of Carl over the years) that I need to sort through as many are historical pieces, I believe.  Carl received a package from France on the day we were there containing several copies of PICSOU (Scrooge) Magazine honoring his 99th birthday as well as MANY original duck drawings from French school children to honor his birthday too! Carl was touched by this international tribute to his great legacy!

The collection

I have been an active collector of Carl's art ... both originals as well as the lithographs, porcelains, and bronzes that have been produced by Another Rainbow, The Carl Barks Studio, and a couple other licensees over the years. My favorites are the pen & ink original pages (only a few exist) which were actually used to produce the comic book pages. Carl's detail is exquisite. 
The paintings are also great and a friend of mine and I own one of the last ones that Carl painted, "EUREKA! A Goose Egg Nugget!" showing Scrooge discovering his famed Goose Egg (gold) Nugget in the waters of White Agony Creek near Dawson City! A GREAT image!!!

The good person

Carl was and always will be a special friend who had enriched my childhood memories, of course, but who also enabled me to have an adult focus (and hobby) that would help me make friends around the world. For there are millions of Carl Barks/Scrooge/Donald fans around the world. Some of us have been privileged to meet Carl, but we all respect and love the inspired work which he has shared with us all over MANY years! 
His impressive legacy surely deserves to be preserved and shared with many others on a global scale so as to enable both present and future fans to enjoy the inspiration, the subtle humor, and downright fun that make his artwork and stories so endearing and enduring in the hearts and minds and memories of young and old alike!

This contribution was written specially for this website. © Edward Bergen