Lloyd DeRamus: life tickles his funny bone

     A Plugger is watering his lawn with a garden hose from which leaks sprout every few inches. The caption reads, “A Plugger sprinkler system.” Two Pluggers are paddling a canoe under the caption, “A Plugger cruise.”
     The characters in the nationally syndicated comic strip “Pluggers” are the unsung heroes of everyday life, people who are just trying to get through the day. Cartoonist Gary Brookins and contributor Lloyd DeRamus understand their plight and even find humor in life’s everyday moments.
      “Pluggers are people who just ‘plug along,’” says DeRamus, whose regular job is assistant director of Financial Aid at Campbell University. “They are people like you and me.”
     DeRamus, who has contributed approximately 12 ideas that have been published in the strip over the past decade, says the ideas just come to him. “I’ll be working at my real job and suddenly get an idea,” he said. “I write it down and e-mail the idea to Brookins. Sometimes he uses it, sometimes he doesn’t.”
     Considering that the odds of a reader’s ideas getting published in a nationally syndicated comic strip are literally one in thousands, Brookins has used DeRamus’ ideas more often than not. However, DeRamus’ all-time favorite contribution to the strip still remains one of his earliest submissions. A Plugger is standing at his mail box with the caption, “Pluggers love to receive mail, especially if the stamp hasn’t been cancelled.”
     Another of DeRamus’ ideas is a close runner-up to his favorite. It depicts a Plugger relaxing in a hammock with a lawn mower parked at his side and the caption, “To Pluggers, blisters are God’s way of saying, ‘Take a nap.’”
      “It’s just an interesting hobby,” says DeRamus, who has each of his cartoons framed and hanging in his Campbell office. “I can look at a situation and see humor in it, while other people may not. Everybody has a gift, and this is mine. If people get a laugh when they see my cartoon, even for only a few minutes, then I’ve done my job,” he said.
     A native of Alabama, DeRamus received his undergraduate degree from Memphis State University with a double major in psychology and history. He went on to obtain a master’s degree in education at Memphis State and completed post graduate studies at the University of Alabama. Prior to coming to Campbell in 2004 as assistant director of Financial Aid, DeRamus was a supervisor of volunteers for Habitat for Humanity.
     The “Pluggers” comic strip can be found in over 60 newspapers across the country and seen locally in the “Wilmington Star” and on the “Pluggers” Web site, www.pluggers.com.

Photo Copy: Lloyd DeRamus, assistant director of Financial Aid at Campbell University, with some of his contributions to the nationally syndicated comic strip “Pluggers.”

Bulletin 0040-8/02/05