Major League Ballparks Get Anti-Tobacco 'Family Circus' Booklet

By: Dave Astor An anti-smoking booklet created by "The Family Circus" cartoonist Bil Keane is being distributed to children at the stadiums of every Major League baseball team.

Keane told E&P Online Wednesday that the effort began in September and, to his knowledge, is continuing at the stadiums of the teams currently in the playoffs.

"My good friend Joe Garagiola [the former Major League player] has been campaigning for years against chewing tobacco and was delighted to join with me in this," said Keane. "He took the book to baseball commissioner Bud Selig, who endorsed the project and ordered 20,000 booklets for each Major League team to give to kids at the ballparks." That's 600,000 booklets in all.

Keane noted that Selig was interested in the booklet both in of itself and as "a counterpart to the steroid stuff they're trying to fight."

The booklet includes a message from Selig and eight anti-smoking cartoons by Keane featuring his "Family Circus" characters. Four of the comics appear as they were originally published in newspapers, and Keane revised the captions of four others. For instance, one comic showing two of the "Family Circus" kids playing dress-up originally read: "You be Honey and I'll be Sweetie." In the booklet it reads: "You be Honey and I'll be Sweetie and we'll both be non-smokers."

Another comic in the booklet -- which shows Dolly telling her father "I'm glad I picked a daddy who doesn't use tobacco" -- was made into a color poster distributed at the Arizona Diamondbacks ballpark in late August. Keane, an Arizona resident, was there for several hours autographing copies.

While the booklet is designed to prevent kids from starting to smoke, Keane hopes it will also encourage their parents to stop smoking. The cartoonist said he has heard anecdotal evidence that the booklet has already helped in that regard.

The booklet might continue to be distributed at ballparks during the 2006 season, said Keane, who added that it may also be given out at Little League games and in schools.

Keane and his son Jeff do "The Family Circus" for King Features Syndicate, which distributes the 45-year-old comic to about 1,500 newspapers.