.....Shortly after "Patch" Adams sent me a card requesting information about the International Journal of Comic Art, I suggested he write an article along the lines of his life as a cartoon character. For, like many cartoon characters, Patch makes thousands of people laugh with his slapstick gags and gestures while performing as a medical doctor clown all over the world; takes on the forces of evil and injustice wherever he sees them, much like superhero comics characters, and makes fun of, parodies, and satirizes the ridiculousness of politicians, societal institutions, and other arbiters of the public good in the style of a Daumier or Hogarth character.

.....In subsequent telephone conversations, Patch talked about other connections he has to the cartoon world -- his personal library of more than 3,000 cartoon books, his fondness for the works of Ralph Steadman and Jerry Van Amerongen, his designing of the hospital he dreams of establishing with "3-D cartoon features" (see drawings in Patch's article), and his aim "to take a cartoonish atmosphere to the suffering, bringing humor, joy, caring to the people." As he said, "What we are doing is like the cartoonist," Patch talks about his life as a cartoon character at the beginning of this article, but also spends time discussing his humanitarian concepts of medical care and his dream of creating a model caring hospital with built-in space for silliness, fun, and humor.

.....From the time I first saw Robin Williams' filmic recreation of the early part of Patch's medical career, I knew this was a man I personally would like to know; thus, it is with much pride and respect, I introduce his article.
........................................................................................................................................................................................ John A. Lent