Dear Friends,
It’s time to rally the troops and help a fallen soldier and comic book artist friend of mine. I want to make you aware of Clifford Van Meter, a Marine friend in Michigan, who is also a comic book artist/writer and non-fiction writer, as well as a galleried wildlife artist. Clifford is losing his home and, as of Friday, has just lost his job due to his medical condition(s). Like me, he also suffers from Type II Diabetes. Clifford’s write-up below was posted before he lost his job. Denise is scrambling to help him find social services and VA help, but in the meantime, please consider giving any amount — even the smallest amount to you would mean the world to him — at this page: https://www.gofundme.com/arctostor
Here is Clifford Van Meter’s story:
I’ve been an artist and illustrator for more than 30 years now. I’ve worked extensively on games like Battle-Tech, and GURPS, as well as a number of books and comics. I worked as a writer, artist, and production manager at Valiant comics in the ’90s, and as an artist and writer with Milestone and DC. I’ve also been a galleried wildlife artist. I have samples up on my Deviant Art Page — http://quicktiming.deviantart.com/gallery/.
These days, I live on what I make as a data technician, I was demoted from marketing manager and lost about 1/4 of my income there, I also do a few private sales and commissions. We live pretty simply, but right at the level of what I make. My wife works a factory job and we live in the house her grandfather built… the house she grew up in. The loss of our home is now inevitable.
Like many of you, I don’t have a contingency fund. Frankly, I need help, as soon as possible. Every penny will go toward keeping the bills paid and keeping my insurance in case I get laid off. Prescriptions have become an issue as well. If I lose my prescriptions I’ll be dead in a month.
So…I will be doing whatever I can to help my friend Clifford, and I hope you can help him, too.
My next major show will be IlluxCon in Reading, PA in October. I hope to see you there.
Thanks for reading!
Dave
Dave Dorman 