Guest Blogger Jim Davidson
From time to time, I like to feature the work of friends. Today, I want to highlight the work of Jim Davidson, one of my oldest friends. We first met in 1971 in Berkeley, California.
Jim is an accomplished musician and writer. Over the years, he has become an expert on comics, classic television, and Perry Mason. He has written and published extensively on all of these topics and maintains blog pages devoted to classic TV, Perry Mason, and classic comics. He also founded his own publishing company, JD Press, to publish his work.
The following is coverage of his recent book on Mopsy, a classic comic from the 1940s about a humble maid who brings laughter to those around her.
MOPSY: The Maid Who Makes You Laugh
Here’s the post for my latest book, MOPSY: The Maid Who Makes You Laugh.
NEW from JD Press!
MOPSY: The Maid Who Makes You Laugh by Gladys Parker
Classic cartoons by a master of the medium
Meet Mopsy —
that funny, sexy, slightly dingy (yet surreptitiously clever) maid of mirth! Conceived by the brilliant cartoonist Gladys Parker, Mopsy was a joke-a-day panel that captivated readers for three decades. This “best of” collection, originally published in 1945 and now selling for hundreds of dollars, features cartoons that first appeared in newspapers during the war years (1942 to 1945), when Parker was at her creative peak.
Praise for MOPSY
“Gladys Parker was among the most recognizable and widely read cartoonists of the 1930s and 1940s…
“Jim Davidson’s JD Press gives us the welcome opportunity to revisit Parker with this restored and reissued Mopsy: The Maid Who Makes You Laugh. The original 1945 compilation captured the late WWII years, when the strip was at its very best…
“It is all light, wisecracking material that makes Mopsy at once jaded, sophisticated, air-headed, and man-hungry — demonstrating how Parker crafted female characters that were engaging yet navigated cultural expectations of the time…
“There is nothing sketchy, uneven, or rough in Parker’s drawings. Her style sits somewhere between illustration and diagram… Mopsy is a testament to the power of cartooning to create a visually comforting daily escape.
“The book is cleanly and sharply rendered, with rich blacks and high resolution on crisp white paper that allow Mopsy’s precise line work to shine. This art may look even better here than in the original edition. Parker would approve.”
— Steve Smith, Panels & Prose
Find Jim Davidson’s Work
Email: pauldrake@comcast.net
Comics History Blog:
Classic TV Site:
Perry Mason Book:
About Jim Davidson
Jim Davidson is the founder and past president of the National Association for the Advancement of Perry Mason and the former publisher/editor of the NAAPM Newsletter and Classic TV. His articles, interviews, and reviews have appeared in Films in Review, Filmfax, Tower Records Pulse!, and The TV Collector.
He has contributed research to numerous reference works, including:
- The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows by Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh
- Primetime Proverbs by Jack Mingo and John Javna
- Donna Reed: A Bio-Bibliography by Brenda Scott Royce
- The Best of Crime & Detective TV by Max Allan Collins and John Javna
He has appeared in the Showtime special The Case of the Courtroom Legends and served as co-producer of the Perry Mason 50th Anniversary Edition DVD set.
He is also the author of the ebook
Perry Mason: A Comprehensive Guide to America’s Favorite Defender of Justice.
Music Feature
Here’s his latest recording. Karen shines as she applies her melodious voice to the swing-era classic “Pennies from Heaven.” It also gave me a chance to play some stride piano — a style I love, though it can be technically challenging. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
🎵 Jim Davidson & Karen Sudjian – Featured Performances
Here are some standout performances showcasing Jim Davidson on piano with vocalist Karen Sudjian:
🎹 Live Performances
- Blue Bossa – Karen Sudjian & Jim Davidson (Baker & Commons) [youtube.com]
- Please Send Me Someone to Love – Live (Baker & Commons) [youtube.com]
- Our Day Will Come – Live Performance [youtube.com]
- La Vie en Rose – Live at Baker & Commons [youtube.com]
🎧 Studio & Arranged Recordings
- This Masquerade – Studio Performance [youtube.com]
- Rock and roll Music – Studio Recording [youtube.com]
▶️ Playlists
👉 These are perfect to embed in Substack or a blog post:
🎼 Official Channel
🎵 Music Feature: Jim Davidson in Performance
- Live performances: View playlist
- Studio recordings: View Playlist
-
Live Music Performances:
- Jim Davidson Live performance
- Studio Performances:
- studio Performance
- Facebook Music Page:
- facebook page
Standard Disclaimer
These writings are entirely my own, the product of an overactive imagination built on 70 years of lived experience. This includes growing up in Berkeley during the 1960s and 1970s; attending college in the 1970s; Peace Corps service in Korea; teaching ESL and government, graduate studies (M.A. in Korean Studies and an MPA from the University of Washington); and 27 years in the U.S. State Department as a Foreign Service Officer.
I have lived and worked in multiple locations across the United States and abroad, and have traveled extensively, including visiting all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and 50 foreign countries. I have lived in ten different cities.
Along the way, I married the lady of my dreams and learned Korean, Spanish, and Thai. I retired in 2016 and now split my time between Korea, Oregon, and Washington, D.C.
My writing leans toward neo‑beatnik or outlaw poetry styles, speculative science fiction, and occasional political commentary and rants. Some readers may find parts of my writing provocative, but that is never my intention.
I have used AI tools (such as ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, and Gemini) for research and editing grammar and punctuation; however, the words themselves are entirely my own.
Thanks so much for visiting my site. Your comments are welcome but please play nice…. Reply