George Ransom Sherman (September 30, 1928 – August 3, 1974) was a

publicist A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a company, a brand, or public figure – especially a celebrity – or for a work such as a book, film, or album. Publicists are public relations specialists who ...

for foreign markets and then head of the Publications Department at the

Disney Studios The Walt Disney Studios is an American film and entertainment studio, and is the Studios Content segment of the Walt Disney Company. Based mainly at the namesake studio lot in Burbank, California, the studio is best known for its multifacete ...

. He was the son of Ransom Sherman, an established vaudeville and radio comedian of the day. In the mid-40s the family moved to Hollywood as Ransom built a career in motion pictures and television. While attending

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalists who wanted to recreate a "college of the New England type" in Southern California. In 1925, it became t ...

he became friends with Roy Disney Jr. who suggested if Sherman ever needed a job he should apply at the Disney Studio. After a stint in the Army Sherman followed up on Roy Jr's offer and went to work at Disney handling publicity for foreign markets.Cathy Sherman Freeman. ''A Disney Childhood: Comic Books to Sailing Ships''. Duncan, OK: BearManor Media, 2012. In the mid-1950s he left the studio to briefly edit and publish the '' Baywood Press'' in Northern California. Returning to Disney, he became head of the Publications Dept. where he was involved with its licensees both domestic and foreign. In 1962 he established the Disney Studio Program, producing comic book stories for the foreign market. He provided editorial support to the Program plus authored (or co-authored) the text for several illustrated children books adapting contemporary Disney films ('' Babes in Toyland'', ''

The Absent-Minded Professor ''The Absent-Minded Professor'' is a 1961 American science fiction comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and based on the short story "A Situation of Gravity" by Samuel W. Taylor, originally published in the May 22, 1943 issue of ''Li ...

'') plus did

Little Golden Books Little Golden Books is a series of children's books, published since 1942. ''The Poky Little Puppy'', the eighth release in the series, is the top-selling children's book of all time in the United States.. Many other Little Golden Books have b ...

involving Disney characters (''

Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel '' The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan ...

'' and

Ludwig Von Drake Professor Ludwig Von Drake is a cartoon character created in 1961 by The Walt Disney Company. He is the paternal uncle of Donald Duck. He was first introduced as the presenter (and singer of " The Spectrum Song") in the cartoon ''An Adventure in ...

). In addition he edited and provided much of the content of the

Gulf Oil Gulf Oil was a major global oil company in operation from 1901 to 1985. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies. Prior to its merger ...

tie-in A tie-in work is a work of fiction or other product based on a media property such as a film, video game, television series, board game, web site, role-playing game or literary property. Tie-ins are authorized by the owners of the original prop ...

''Wonderful World of Disney'' magazine (1969-1970). Sherman brainstormed with Disney United Kingdom merchandising representative Peter Woods the initial concept of Super Goof. In the early 1970s through his efforts Carl Barks was granted permission to create and sell oil paintings of the Donald Duck clan. Sherman also gave permission for Barks' ten page story from ''

Walt Disney's Comics and Stories ''Walt Disney's Comics and Stories'', sometimes abbreviated ''WDC&S'', is an American anthology comic book series featuring characters from The Walt Disney Company's films and shorts, including Donald Duck, Scrooge McDuck, Mickey Mouse, Chi ...

'' #126 to be reprinted in

Les Daniels Leslie Noel Daniels III, better known as Les Daniels (October 27, 1943 – November 5, 2011), was an American writer. Background Daniels attended Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where he wrote his master's thesis on ''Frankenstei ...

's book ''Comix: A History of the Comic Book in America''. After an extended illness Sherman died of

paraganglioma A paraganglioma is a rare neuroendocrine neoplasm that may develop at various body sites (including the head, neck, thorax and abdomen). When the same type of tumor is found in the adrenal gland, they are referred to as a pheochromocytoma. They a ...

, a rare

neuroendocrine Neuroendocrine cells are cells that receive neuronal input (through neurotransmitters released by nerve cells or neurosecretory cells) and, as a consequence of this input, release messenger molecules (hormones) into the blood. In this way they bri ...

neoplasm A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...

, at the

Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital In physics, motion is the phenomenon in which an object changes its position with respect to time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed and frame of reference to an observer and me ...

. Like his friend

Roy E. Disney Roy Edward Disney KCSG (January 10, 1930 – December 16, 2009) was an American businessman. He was the longtime senior executive for the Walt Disney Company, which was founded by his father, Roy O. Disney, and his uncle, Walt Disney. At the ti ...

his ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean. Disney paid all his medical bills. An oil painting of Scrooge McDuck Barks gave to Sherman in gratitude for his aid in arranging permission for the artist to sell paintings of Disney's copyrighted duck characters was sold at auction in 2010 for $20,315.Carl Barks Scrooge McDuck oil painting sells at Heritage
. Sherman's daughter Cathy Sherman Freeman in 2012 published a memoir ''A Disney Childhood'' including several chapters on her father.

References

Further reading