Show nast suffered under handicap of shyness excessive shyness was an affliction of thomas nast the great cartoonist who lifted caricature from its ita obscurity to its present position as one of the most potent for creating and influencing public opinion ile he was attl appalled at the very thought of having baving to face a crowd la in person after other agencies had coaxed la in vain tor for mir his services on the lecture platform Red paths ba succeeded only after a representative had camped on his trall trail for months it was explained to the artist that he could keep his back to his audience letting his bis crayon do most of the talking and need turn tarn only occasionally for a brief remark re maril nast aigner up tor for the tour of illustrated lectures and the brief ity fly of his remarks made quite a hit with ills audiences on one occa occasion in philadelphia he went to ills his his blackboard on the stage and rapidly drew the outlines of a great building then tbell I 1 i turning his head he remarked dryly you see I 1 can draw a house As the theater was packed the audie decided he be had intended the possible double meaning and a storm of applause ensued ile he earned that season but got homesick toward tin close and canceled that would have brought more kansas city star |