Reminders of Clymers

Am looking at the cover of an old Saturday Evening Post for July 30, 1960, which I recently found in my "man den." Good and bad memories here for me. The cover shows visitors crossing the outlet of Lake Josephine in Glacier National Park. It is exquisite in the color of the horses and riders, the background scene of Glaciers, forests, and peaks of the Continental Divide. Only one man I know could have captured the soul of that setting.

Naturally, when I saw the magazine it was carefully filed. A few years passed and I ran into it and decided on an exciting plan. Wrote a letter proposing The Post give me the go-ahead "on speculation" to do a story about the artist, John Clymer. Reminded the editors John had created over 80 covers for them while painting in the shadow of the ultra famous Norman Rockwell.

Also told them that since leaving the post in 1964, the aging Clymer had become an icon for aspiring easel artists of the West. Top professionals like Bob Kuhn admired every brush stroke Clymer took. The Post editors gave approval to submit a story and I immediately wrote to Clymer's studio/home in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

The shy and modest man gave me an invitation to come interview him, and I was on my way. After a scary drive on snow-packed roads over the Grand Tetons I arrived in Jackson in early evening, got a motel and called him. His wife, Doris, told me John had become nervous over our meeting and she taken him to the doctor for medication but she'd call me in the morning.

Doris called at 8:30 and said John could see me for a couple hours so I drove to Teton Village. He was working on a large painting of Indians hunting buffalo but stopped working and we had a marvelous discussion. Feeling more at ease as time went on, I was still concerned about getting enough information before my time was up. Not to worry. About 11:45 Doris came from the kitchen and said, "George, John likes you and would have you stay for lunch and more visiting."

We chatted until it started to get dark and I thanked the Clymers for being so hospitable then drove a couple of blocks before stopping to write as fast as I could all the facts I had collected in my brain. I'd not taken in a tape recorder because rightfully figured the device might bother John.

Took almost a month to hone the article for the Saturday Evening Post and the day before mailing it, talked to an editor who told me they were no longer interested in the story because they had bought a piece about a western art collector back east. Said it had been written by Richard Nixon's daughter, Julie.

Try as I might, I just could not get the courage to call John and tell him what I knew would be disappointing. Took the easier route of writing him a letter. Then called an editor of The Post. Told him I had done many stories for national magazines including them, but had never seen or heard of such treatment of an author.

The Post's reaction was a short apology and they told me to send in the manuscript for their review. I never did.

It was not too long after that John Clymer passed away and it has always bothered me I wasn't able to give him the recognition he so justly earned and deserved. It helps that he was made a charter member of the elite CAA artist's group and was written up in Art of the West and other art publications.

There is a wonderful display of his paintings and studio artifacts at the prestigious gallery in Jackson Hole.

Besides the Glacier Park illustration and other covers by Clymer, there is one special item in my files. It is a 142-page book titled "John Clymer-an Artist's rendezvous with the Frontier West." It was published by Northland Press while John was still alive and mine is signed by him.

G. George Ostrom is a national award-winning columnist for Hungry Horse News. He lives in Kalispell.