DEAR SUN SPOTS: Thank you for your column in the Sun Journal. After your column I read Dear Abby and then the comics. My question is: Has someone new taken over “Mark Trail”?

Around the time of the bear attack, the strip changed. It no longer even looks like Mark, and the story line is different. It is just not the same.

I read every comic every day, seven days a week since 1941, when I started to read “Terry and The Pirates” in the Worcester Telegram and Gazette and on radio during World War II.

We have had a subscription to the Sun Journal for many years and must say that our carrier, Kay Brackley, has not missed us once in that time, not even this winter. What a gem. Thanks again. — Donald Lowe, Farmington, [email protected]

ANSWER: Sun Spots found a post on dailycartoonist.com (http://tinyurl.com/nwuvh5o):

“Longtime Mark Trail cartoonist Jack Elrod is retiring and his assistant James Allen is taking over. The strip has been primarily guided by its creator Ed Dodd and Jack, but a lot of cartoonists have had a hand in the strip over the years including the great Jack Davis, who was the inker on the strip for one summer in the 1940s. The official handoff is March 31 – two days after Jack’s 90th birthday.”

Since comics are submitted in advance, this retirement may explain the differences you’ve noticed.

Many newspapers have tried to cancel “Mark Trail,” which they see as dated, only to be overwhelmed by objections from ardent fans such as Donald.

You can see how long the comic has been around (since April 15, 1946) just by looking at the photo on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Trail) of an early staff working in creator Dodd’s home.

Wikipedia also offers this: 

“When ‘Mark Trail’ began, it was syndicated through the New York Post in 1946 to 45 newspapers. Dodd, working as a national parks guide, had long been interested in environmental issues. The character is loosely based on the life and career of Charles N. Elliott (Nov. 29, 1906 – May 1, 2000), at the time a U.S. forest ranger who edited Outdoor Life magazine from 1956 to 1974. Dodd once said that the physical model for Trail was John Wayt, his former neighbor in north Atlanta.”

DEAR SUN SPOTS: The Danville Union Church has a 1979 Hammond Aurora Classic Organ, with bench, that it needs to dispose of. It is in working order, but needs to be tuned.

Perhaps there is another church or organization that would be willing to pick it up? If interested, please call Joyce MacDonald at 998-2231.

Thanks so much for all the good that you do in our community. — G. Ryder, Danville

DEAR SUN SPOTS: Thank you for publishing my reunion notice in your May 19 column in the Sun Journal. I just noticed that I had an error. My telephone number is 207-375-8382. I typed it incorrectly in my email to you. Thank you. —Alice DiPaolo, Wales, [email protected]

This column is for you, our readers. It is for your questions and comments. There are only two rules: You must write to the column and sign your name (we won’t use it if you ask us not to). Please include your phone number. Letters will not be returned or answered by mail, and telephone calls will not be accepted. Your letters will appear as quickly as space allows. Address them to Sun Spots, P.O. Box 4400, Lewiston, ME 04243-4400. Inquiries can also be emailed to [email protected].