Welcome to BVGrant Studios

This website by Betsy Grant is intended to showcase the art and writing of my late husband, Vernon Grant of Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Toward the end of his life, Vernon Grant wrote a self description in an essay he entitled “The Cartoonist”. “Just a man who draws funny pictures? No, not quite. His ability to produce these pictures comes from knowledge of human traits, undertakings, strengths, weaknesses, shortcomings and ambitions. He is essentially a philosopher, psychologist, story teller, historian, chronologer, sentimentalist and realist rolled into one. He quickly sees many sides of issues that escape the notice of the average observer.”    

Vernon Grant (1935-2006) delighted audiences with his art since he was age three. He volunteered to serve in the US Army from 1958 to 1968, and left the service as an infantry and communications officer in the rank of Captain.  Upon leaving the Army, he resided in Tokyo and attended Sophia University where we met. While attending college, he published STAND-BY ONE!, a collection of Army cartoons. He drew other cartoons for the Stars and Stripes as well.  He created three graphic novels of Point -Man Palmer and also the book, A Monster is Loose in Tokyo. Point- Man Palmer is a young draftee who has humorous adventures in Vietnam and Tokyo, often with his  invisible girlfriend, Peppermint.

Vernon’s eight years of life in Japan had a profound effect on his artistic style. He has often been credited with introducing concepts of Japanese manga into English-language cartooning. Vernon and I returned to Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1973. We were married in 1978. Vernon moved to a new theme in his drawing by creating seven issues of the Love Rangers.  The Love Rangers are an international group of space soldiers whose “mission and that of their great spaceship is to effect peaceful changes in critical situations through the use of Love.”     

Adventures of Point-Man Palmer in Vietnam was released on November 7, 2014. 

The publisher is the Little Creek Press of Mineral Point, WI.   The book  consists of a biography of Vernon Grant, his graphic novel  Point-Man Palmer and His Girlfriend "Invisible Peppermint " Vietnam , first published in 1969, Stars and Stripes cartoons he drew in the late 1960s , cartoons from the  STAND-BY ONE! cartoon book, cartoons from his OCS Classbook of 1962 and a previously unpublished cartoon story about the need for radios for the foot soldier.
Adventures of Point-Man Palmer in Vietnam is now on the  www.littlecreekpress.com

site, and also on Amazon  at  www.amazon.com. You may  click on the About Publications page and read more about the book, plus you can now order it, through PayPal, on that page.  Check here for reviews and articles about on the book.  If you would like to be notified about other bvgrant studio events please email me at bvgrantstudio@yahoo.com

The book may now be purchased at fifteen   locations. Twelve locations are in Wisconsin.  In Wisconsin Dells, it is at Broadway Travel Mart and Ivy Cottage. In Lake Delton, it is at the Lake Delton Travel Mart and The  Dells Army Ducks. In Baraboo,  it is at Book World. In Reedsburg,  it is being offered at Liberty Flag and Specialty Company and Antiques on Main.  In Spring Green, it is at Arcadia Press. In Mineral Point, it is at Mineral Point Collection. In Madison, you may purchase the book at the Wisconsin Veteran's Museum , the Wisconsin Historical Museum and the West Side Barnes and Noble. In Mooresville, Indiana, it is being offered at Mooresville Open Market Antiques. In Cambridge, Massachusetts it is at Million Year Picnic Comic Book Store, the store which  sold Vernon's Love Rangers graphic novels back in the  1970s and 1980s. In Brookline, Massachusetts, it is at Brookline Booksmith, which sold Vernon's computer postcards back in the 1980s.

I made a book promotion trip of  six days in Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts, February 13 through the 18th, 2015  that was  filled with many great opportunities. The Boskone Science Fiction Convention included the multi-author book signing party in which I participated. I attended many interesting workshops on publishing and selling my book. I then moved to Cambridge and had a good turnout for my speech at the Cambridge Public Library on February 17th, with many book sales happening afterward.  I also met new friends and sold  books at the Million Year Picnic at a book signing on February 18th. I went to the studio of the Cambridge Community TV station and did an interview with Lynette Laveau Saxe for her television show, The Callalloo Express Be Live show,that was shown at www.cctvcambridge.org I also appeared on her radio show, Callalloo Relationships on February 16th and February 23rd. A portion of the proceeds from my book sales were donated to three Massachusetts veterans associations.

On April 2nd, 2015  I was interviewed by Dave Delozier of WISC channel 3 Television of Madison, Wisconsin. He did an in depth interview about " Adventures of Point-Man Palmer in Vietnam" and about Vernon as an artist and my husband . The interview and story appeared on May 1st, 2015.  Please click to view it.
I attended the Department of Wisconsin 94th Annual  VFW Convention in Wausau, WI. as a new member of the Women's Auxiliary for the Reedsburg Post 1916 from June 3 through June 6th. I had a table selling  Adventures of Point-Man Palmer in Vietnam. There was a lot of interest in the book expressed by the veterans and the Women's Auxiliary members  in attendance .
In June of 2015 an article I wrote entitled " The Art of Vernon Grant" appeared in Issue no. 8 of Comic Book Creator. Click here to read more.
It was subtitled "Discovering the "lost" graphic novelist , author of Point-Man Palmer and Love Rangers.
On June 22, 2015, Jim Higgins of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel did a new book review. 

Click here to read it.
On July 11, 2015, Ed Legge of the Dells Events wrote about my promotion of Vernon's cartoons in "A'Graphic Novel Pioneer" .     
I attended The American Legion Department of Wisconsin 97th Annual Convention in Appleton, WI. as a new member of the Women's Auxiliary from Post 187 in Wisconsin Dells from July 16 through the 19th. I had a table selling Adventures of Point-Man Palmer in Vietnam. As at the VFW convention, there was a lot of interest expressed in the book expressed by the veterans and the Women's Auxiliary members in attendance.

In the month of July, The Comic Art of War  was released. It is written by Christina M. Knopf, an associate professor in communications at SUNY in Potsdam, NY. and is  an academic study of military cartoons from 1804 to 2014. The author includes 13  references to Vernon Grant and his cartoons  in the book. She notes he is credited with introducing the manga style to English cartooning. Although she did not use any of his cartoons in the book, she gives numerous examples of his jokes from  STAND-BY ONE! and from cartoons in the Pacific Stars and Stripes.  
I released  my second book STAND-BY ONE!  with Little Creek Press on October 1, 2015. This book is  the reprint of Vernon's origonal  STAND-BY ONE! book published in 1969, with additional biographical material about Vernon and myself. Numerous requests by academicians for this book have prompted this release. 
On November 6th I was interviewed by Savanna Tomei of Channel 27 of WKOW in Madison Wisconsin about my book signings and appearances in November to promote both of my books. Please click here to see the interview.
On November 11th , 2015 I did  a book signing at VFW Post 7534 in Howard, WI and was interviewed by Terry Kovarik of Channel 5 WFVR of Green Bay, WI. The interviewed aired on November 13, 2013. Please click here  for it.
On November 20th, an article written  about my books by Ed Legge appeared in The Dells Events. Please click here for it.
A  review of "Adventures of Point-Man Palmer in Vietnam" appeared on November 23rd on the website for the Vietnam Veterans of America, written by Curt Nelson. Please click on the link for the review.
The " MONSTER!" magazine published  a two part series about Vernon Grant's book " A Monster is Loose!-in Tokyo" , published by Charles E. Tuttle in 1972--and about the whole body of Vernon's  works. The first article appeared in the October 2015 issue #22. It may be ordered through this link.
The November 2015 issue #23 is the more  extensive of the two parts (consists of 18 pages) with many pages from " A Monster is Loose!- in Tokyo" as well as other examples of Vernon's cartooning. It may ordered through this link

The year of 2016 began with having a vendor table at the State of Wisconsin American Legion Mid-winter Convention on January 15th and 16th at the Ho-Chunk Casino and Hotel in Wisconsin Dells. On February 10th, I made a speech about my books at the American Legion in Wisconsin Dells, and on April 5th I spoke at the Briggsville American Legion, and offered my  books for sale.
A busy summer commenced by attendance at the Veterans of Foreign Wars ( VFW) State of Wisconsin Convention in Appleton, WI from June 8th through the 12th, where I had a vendor table. I then attended the American Legion State of Wisconsin Convention in from July 14th through the 17th in Middleton, WI with a vendor table to also offer my books. During the Convention ,I was interviewed by Leo Thao from Madison, WI Channel 15 and it was aired on July 14th. It was entitled "Vernon Grant's Wife Shares His Legacy".

I then flew to Charlotte , North Carolina to sell my books and meet veterans from July 23-27th at the National VFW Convention, meeting  veterans from all over the United States. After that Convention I traveled to Cambridge, MA birthplace of Vernon E. Grant. I had planned an evening program at the Cambridge Public Library to be held on July 28th, with speeches by me, a Vietnam Veteran, and a  cousin of Vernon.The Cambridge Mayor, Denise Simmons, also spoke and made two exciting presentations. She had arranged for presentations of Proclamations from the city of Cambridge and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts saying July 28th was VERNON E GRANT DAY  in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. These Proclamations detailed Vernon E. Grant's life story and contributions to the world of cartooning art in this country, that included his cartooning for The Stars and Stripes, creation of the " Point-Man Palmer" graphic novels and STAND-BY ONE! (cartoons of the Vietnam Era), his creation of his seven "Love Rangers" graphic novels--and his introduction the concepts of Japanese manga to American cartooning, as well as introducing " Kaiju" ( the Japanese word for monster) to America in his book " A Monster is Loose!-In Tokyo."  The 53 minute program was recorded on video by Cambridge Cable Television (CCTV) and may be viewed at this link.

The Cambridge Chronicle published an article on July 28th about their native son, Vernon E. Grant entitled, "Cambridge War Cartoonist Honored with Dedication"

The year of 2016 ended with a speech and book signing at the Rock Springs Library in Rock Springs, WI.
An article about my activities of the year, "Dells Resident Makes Strides in Publicizing Late- Husband's Art" which appeared in the Dells Events on October 21st.