‘Pearls Before Swine’ creator Pastis toasts Spokane with his latest strip

A love letter – or perhaps it’s a love comic strip – to Spokane from Stephan Pastis? The mind behind the amusing comic strip “Pearls Before Swine” crafted a clever nod to the Lilac City.

Pastis, who will appear Tuesday at the Bing Crosby Theater to discuss “Pearls” and more, focuses on the often mispronounced name of the city.

“How I came up with this is, when I told people here (in Santa Rosa, California) where I was going, they all had a different pronunciation of Spokane,” Pastis said. “When I corrected them, they told me I was wrong.”

Pastis rolls out the variety of ways folks say Spokane.

“The great thing about the strip is that I didn’t clear up anything,” Pastis said. “If you were confused about how to say Spokane before, well, after reading my strip, you’re still going to be confused. That was my public service.”

Pastis hilariously closes the strip with a take on how to pronounce Gonzaga.

“I’ve heard different ways to say Gonzaga,” Pastis said.

There’s no date for when the strip will run nationally. “I’m about six or seven months ahead, but I will slip in the Spokane strip before that,” he said.

Why not wait until March Madness, since Gonzaga will be making headlines around the country?

“Now that would be smart,” Pastis said. “Maybe I’ll hold on to the strip until March, since that makes the most sense.”