LEWISBURG, Tenn. (WTVF) — A special book is soon to be released, one that tells a man's incredible journey and the lessons he's learned along the way.
"They always say cartooning gets in your blood, and when that happens, there's nothing else you want to do," said Tim Oliphant of Lewisburg.
Since he was 16, Tim was convinced he was meant to be a cartoonist. His work's been seen in many publications.
"Saturday Evening Post, Woman's World, Highlights for Children, Boy's Life, Ebony, American Legion Magazine," Tim listed.
The pieces are all signed 'Mr. Ollie'.
A picture of his mother, Evelyn, overlooks Tim's work space.
"What you see on the walls are signed posters and prints from the artists that I knew," Tim said. "One thing that is so unique about what artists do is they put themselves so much in their art. If you knew Charles Schulz, you knew he was his characters in his comic strips."
Tim himself has just taken on the most personal work of his life. Pre-orders are now open for what's coming out in March; The Life Vest by Mr. Ollie. It's a graphic novel autobiography. It covers Tim's journey to being a cartoonist, the support of his mother, and the scariest days of his life.
"There was an awful lot of tightness and sweating and numbness in my arm and most of the things they warn you about," Tim remembered about his first heart attack at age 52. "In the moment, you don't know if you're going to make it to the hospital or not."
What's in the book is a consolidated version of what happened. Tim actually suffered three heart attacks over a few years. It's mostly the third one detailed in the book.
Tim illustrates all he thought in his hospital room, but he said a therapy came with taking another perspective.
"What cartoonists do is find that humor where most people don't see the humor," Tim said. "You go to the emergency room, everybody's ripping your clothes off! Suddenly you have no inhabitions in all these strangers seeing you naked. I remember making a comment to one of the EMTs, 'now that I've had a heart attack, I can check mark that off the to-do list!' After my heart attack, I had to wear a physical life vest, has little defibrillators in it. If my heart ever fluttered like I was having another heart attack, it was supposed to shock me back into living again."
That literal vest Tim wore is one reference to the title The Life Vest. There's more to it than that.
"I think if we're lucky, we have life vests to keep our head above water," he said. "For me, that was my art, that was my mom."
Tim's mother, Evelyn, died recently. The book opens with a message for her;
'For mom who gave me her mind for wisdom, shoulders to cry on, arms for hugs, feet for following, and a heart to light my way.'
"I hope people are somewhat inspired or encouraged," Tim said of the book. "Find your life vest, whoever, whatever it may be and grab on to that and just don't let it go."
Pre-orders for The Life Vest can be made on Amazon here.
Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
