Five things about Stephan Pastis

1. He is a world-renowned cartoonist who crafts the humorous comic strip “Pearls Before Swine” and amusing children’s chapter books, such as the “Timothy Failure” series. However, never expect Patsis, who loves comedy, to ever try stand-up.

“I have so much respect for comedians, and I just could never do what they do,” Pastis said. “I was invited to an event at the University of North Carolina a few years ago since I’m in comedy as a cartoonist. I watched Lewis Black, John Oliver and Rob Riggle perform. They’re each great at what they do, but I can’t do that. (Comedians) are wired differently than me.”

2. Pastis revels in his relative anonymity. “I honestly don’t know how people who are famous full time get comfortable with strangers constantly coming up to them,” Pastis said.

“I was at a bar with Craig Robinson. We were sitting outside at a table, and we couldn’t go five minutes without having someone say something to him. How do you deal with people who constantly want selfies with you? What if you’re in a bad mood?”

3. “Pearls Before Swine” appears in more than 850 newspapers worldwide. “It really is amazing that ‘Pearls’ caught on like it has,” Pastis said.

4. Patsis gave up his law practice to focus on his strip. “It was one of the best decisions I ever made,” Patsis said.

5. Tom McCarthy, the writer of the Academy Award winning drama “Spotlight,” co-wrote the film adaptation of “Timothy Failure” with Pastis.

“Tom was writing it and I said that I wanted to write it with him and he just stared at me,” Pastis said. “This is a guy who has an Oscar as a writer and he asked what I’ve done and I told him that I read the Syd Field book (‘Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting’) twice.”