Mahatma

by Syd Hoff

Mahatma is a large pink elephant who works for a lumber company in India. After years of faithful service his employer tells him to take a vacation and rest.

His vacation experience starts out badly at the airport where he is too large to board a plane; then on to the railroad station where again he is too large. He settles on walking. At a golf course he ends up carrying all the equipment and the players. After several such mishaps he goes to the jungle and rejoins his herd, hanging about nibbling grasses and playing in the river.

Mahatma soon decides this is a pointless existence and returns to work.

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Whether you’re seven or seventy, the chances are you’ve probably come in contact with one of his many books (150 plus), or cartoons that have appeared in over 200 magazines in the course of his lifetime, including Laugh it Off which was syndicated for 20 years. His comic strip Tuffy, about a little girl who did funny things, was declared essential for national morale during WWII by William Randolph Hearst.

Syd has worked in diverse genres. He had the distinct honor of working with Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen as a contributor of short fiction writing. He was awarded national advertising commissions for large companies such as Chevrolet, Maxwell House Coffee and others. He had his own TV show (Tales of Hoff on CBS), traveled the world as entertainment on cruise ships and entertained children and teachers in schools and libraries across the country.