Val Chadwick Bagley

Val Chadwick Bagley (not to be confused with Pat Bagley, editorial cartoonist for the Salt Lake Tribune) has been a full-time self-employed cartoonist since 1990 and with Covenant Communications since 1993, selling over 1,000,000 children's books, card games, CDs, and other products. Barely graduating from high school (he used to draw during the math and spelling tests), he went to college four different times. One art teacher told him that "cartoonists are childish and immature," while another art teacher said that he had the potential to be a good artist if he would just give up this "cartooning thing." He never finished a quarter of college. He has drawn for the New Era magazine (now called For the Strength of Youth) since 1978 and the Friend magazine since 2000. He served as the public relations director as a missionary in Virginia and kept a daily cartoon journal in which he learned how to draw. He and his wife, Ruthie, live in Star Valley, Wyoming, where they serve as ordinance workers in the Star Valley Temple and on the Star Valley Arts Council.