The Man Behind the Ant Part 1

By Aleta*

When given this assignment, I smelled the fear, my editor's fear. I heard the wheels turning, "I can't give this piece to one of my regular reporters, Wes'll rip 'em to shreds in Klyde Morris if he doesn't like the article.

Ah ha, let's give it to the new recruit, see what she's made of, besides, she knows Wes, maybe he'll go easier on her."  Ha! Surprise, I've survived being cathed in Klyde Morris and lived to tell the tale. The best man for this job IS a woman.

First of all if you are in aviation and you've never heard of Wes Oleszewski or Klyde Morris you must have been flying above twelve-five without oxygen for waaaay too long. So, right now, open another window on your computer and head over to www.KlydeMorris.com. Read some of Wes's strips to see what you've been missing. The story of the creation of Klyde Morris can be viewed on this "always free of charge and free of influence" website as well.

Shameless Plug

Check out Klyde's Creator and Klyde's Saga. Don't forget the Klyde Mart, too,  but "have your credit card ready." Even better, visit Wes and his wife Teresa at Oshkosh, at the Fly Mart, and see the brand new line of Klyde merchandise -- shirts, mugs, glasses, hats, books and more. Have your credit card AND an extra suitcase ready and don't forget to compute the weight and balance, please.

Back To The Story

So, who is Wes Oleszewski, the man behind Klyde Morris "aviations first and only ant?" This small creature, Klyde, not Wes, inspired fear in the staff, faculty and even students of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University for 10 years -- fear of being sliced, stabbed, diced, mutilated and stripped naked in the Klyde Morris strip because you did something that wasn't what was best for the University.

In the ten years of fighting injustice at ERAU, there were many changes made AFTER an issue was  presented in Klyde Morris. The University was very closed-mouthed about the impact Klyde had. Wes knows of at least two major changes, one with the food service contract and the custodial service, due "in part to the cartoons depicting their shortcomings." Wes points out that, "It's important to keep in mind that cartoons don't really change anything, only those who manage and administrate can make changes. Such people get very sensitive as to how the way in which the masses view them and their job performance. It is that view that cartoons actually change."

These may not sound like a life changing experience to you, but consider being dorm bound with only your meal card to sustain you. According to Wes, his favorite change that came from a Klyde strip during the ERAU years was one involving a frat house and some real estate. "One of the campus fraternities had just taken possession of a new frat house. The fraternity in question needed to fill the house in order to make the payments and thus needed to get a number of their freshman members to move from the dorm into the house. The problem was that during this period in time, the university's housing contracts were made of iron and absolutely no one was being allowed out of any contract.

The person administering those housing contracts, however, was an alumnus of the fraternity in question and assured his brothers that those from his fraternity who asked to have their contracts broken so they could move into the house would be released from their agreements. Of course that sounds real good over a few beers while celebrating the new frat house, but sounds really bad in the light of day. "I got word of the scam and wrote a single cartoon on November 28, 1978, that named the administrator who was going to break the contracts and the entire scam went down the toilet. I was told that it was quite a shake up in the housing department."

Once Wes graduated from ERAU with his B.S. in Aeronautical Science in 1987 and finished his flying course in May 1988, his 10 years of student status came to an end. I believe ERAU breathed a sigh of relief once Wes graduated, since they were no longer the sole target in his quest for justice. It was time for Wes to enter the "real world" of aviation. The picnic table for the ant was set, no person, place, or organization in the entire world of aviation was safe once Wes got a whiff of the stink of injustice or just plain greed. This is evidenced by his scathing of Scott O'Grady; hero to most of the US after his escape from being shot down over Bosnia in 1995, greedy book deal seeker/wanna be Hollywood action hero to Wes. Visit www.klydemorris.com to see the strips on Scott. Amazing how different perceptions can be.

A Dose Of Reality

Reality is what happens despite all our plans and knowing it is much more difficult to change the world as opposed to a University campus, I wondered if Klyde Morris had achieved any successes in making a change in aviation. Wes replied "The best answer to that is to say that lots of folks who once felt as if they had no say in objectionable issues now feel as if their voices are being heard through Klyde Morris. I'm not afraid to stand up and slap the TSA or the FAA, and these days, those animals need a lot of slapping."

After Wes's graduation he contributed Klyde to the ERAU Alumni newsletter for a short time. Then from 1989-1999 Klyde went into hibernation, while his creator "beat his head against the aviation wall" as a pilot. In 1999 after a snub from the ERAU Alumni council regarding placing Klyde Morris on the ERAU website, Wes made the decision to give Klyde his own site, www.KlydeMorris.com. The website was Wes's only means of serving Klyde to the outside world. The strip and the site caught the attention of AVWeb and in June 2000, Klyde had two homes.

The decision to sign on with AVWeb would give Klyde the cartoon strip a far larger audience, in addition to increasing the traffic to the KlydeMorris.com site with all the Klyde "extras." The partnership lasted through October 2002, right up until AVWeb and the new owners, Belvoir Publications, who were "weighing in on all of their (AVWeb) content" suggested to Wes to hold off on a strip because of its content. That was paramount to ripping Wes's First Amendment Rights to pieces and stomping on them. After some e-mails back and forth, AVWeb decided to discontinue Wes's services. They felt Wes overreacted.

Luckily, Aero-News Net has no such restrictive viewpoints when it comes to editorials. They understand that Wes's purpose behind Klyde Morris was to promote thought and change -- through controversy, if necessary. ANN picked up Wes and Klyde last Fall. Aero-News Net Editor in Chief, Jim Campbell, had seen the Klyde Morris strip before and began negotiations via e-mail with Wes shortly after AVWeb exterminated Klyde from their site.

Jim offered "a good home to a lonely ant" and Wes accepted. Jim has this to say about the addition of Klyde to the website www.Aero-News.net "ANN has never been much for sacred cows, except maybe to make steaks. Sometimes, aviation becomes rather 'fuddy-duddy' and takes itself too seriously. When that happens, things need to be shaken up (not stirred), Wes has a critical eye, and through Klyde Morris, he can create a stir. Klyde is great for aviation."

With his home now at ANN, Wes is enjoying a new found freedom. He will continue his no-holds-barred approach to all things aviation and seek to have people sit up, take notice and DO SOMETHING.

FMI: www.KlydeMorris.com, Visit Klyde and Wes in Airventure Fly-Market Area 802.