Jef Mallett (born 1962) is the creator and

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, the ...

of the nationally syndicated

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

Frazz ''Frazz'' is a syndicated comic strip by Jef Mallett about school custodian Edwin "Frazz" Frazier and the school and students where he works. The strip debuted on 2 April 2001, and , appears in over 250 newspapers and is read by tens of thousan ...

''. He attended

nursing school Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ca ...

as well as EMT training before leaving to pursue his artistic interests. He has a longtime interest in

bicycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

and

hanggliding Hang gliding is an air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised foot-launched heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or composite frame covered ...

and is an avid triathlete, having completed his first

triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the ...

in 1981 (coming in 9th). He has twice completed the

Ironman Triathlon An Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), consisting of a swim, a bicycle ride and a marathon run completed in that order, a total of . It is widely consider ...

. He is married to Patty and lives in Huntington Woods,

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, United States.

Career

While in high school, Mallett published his first comic strip for his local newspaper, the Big Rapids Pioneer. His first comic series was entitled "Birchbark", featuring a French-Canadian trapper. After becoming a

graphic artist A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, p ...

, he worked in that capacity for regional newspapers, the

Grand Rapids Press ''The Grand Rapids Press'' is a daily newspaper published in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It is the largest of the eight Booth newspapers. It is sold for $1.50 daily and $7.99 on Sunday. AccuWeather provides weather content to the ''Grand Rapids ...

and the

Flint Journal ''The Flint Journal'' is a quad-weekly newspaper based in Flint, Michigan, owned by Booth Newspapers, a subsidiary of Advance Publications. Published Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays, it serves Genesee, Lapeer and Shiawassee Counties. ...

. Afterwards, Mallett left the commercial world to concentrate on Frazz full-time.

Accomplishments

Books

*''Dangerous Dan'' (children's book). Willowisp Press (1996) *''Live at Bryson Elementary''. Andrews McMeel Publishing (2005) 128 pages. Includes foreword by

Gene Weingarten Gene Norman Weingarten (born October 2, 1951) is an American journalist, and former syndicated humor columnist for ''The Washington Post.'' He is the only two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing. Weingarten is known for both ...

and introduction by Jef Mallett. *''99% Perspiration''. Andrews McMeel Publishing (2006) 128 pages. *''Frazz 3.1416''. Andrews McMeel Publishing (20089) 128 pages. . Includes an introduction by Charles Solomon *''Trizophrenia: Inside the Minds of a Triathlete'' VeloPress (2009)

Illustrations

*''Live Albom II'' by

Mitch Albom Mitchell David Albom (born May 23, 1958) is an American author, journalist, and musician. His books have sold over 40 million copies worldwide. Having achieved national recognition for sports writing in his early career, he turned to writing the ...

, Detroit Free Press, Inc. (1990) *Mallett donated cover artwork for the

Bob and Tom Show Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: Places *Mount Bob, New York, United States * Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica People, fictional characters, and named animals *Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Bob (surnam ...

CD: Operation Radio which was distributed for free to US

Servicemen The term serviceman, alternatively service member, refers to enlisted members of a nation's armed forces. More generally, the term can be applied to officers as well. For more information see: *Soldier *Sailor *Airman * Marine *Coast guard *N ...

, serving overseas, as part of the

USO The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

's Operation Care Package. *Created the artwork for the

CD: Man Boobs (2006). *''Roadie: The Misunderstood World of a Bike Racer'' by Jamie Smith, published Spring 2008 by VeloPress.

Other

*He was 2005 commencement speaker at

University of Michigan–Flint The University of Michigan–Flint (UM-Flint, UMF) is a public university in Flint, Michigan. It is one of the two regional universities operating under the policies of the University of Michigan Board of Regents, the other being the Universit ...

. *Participated in Nevada Passage, which featured two-person teams competing in

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

kayaking Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits facin ...

, and other outdoor events during a 2006

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early ...

program; his partner was

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme sp ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

Stefani Jackenthal, another all-American triathlete.

Awards

*2003 annual Wilbur Award from the Religion Communicators Council for "Excellence in Communicating Values and Ethics", for

References

External links

Frazz on comics.com

''Roadie: The Misunderstood World of a Bike Racer'' by Jamie Smith, illustrated by Jef Mallett.

Jef Mallett participates in Cartoonist roundtable.

Personal blog (2009-2011).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mallett, Jef Living people 1962 births American comics artists Artists from Lansing, Michigan American male triathletes Sportspeople from Lansing, Michigan People from Huntington Woods, Michigan