NO. 17: Income from painter's posters has bolstered race for years.
Back when the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race was little more than a dream into which supporters could throw money, artist and musher Jon Van Zyle was there in support.
Even before he ran his first Iditarod race in 1976 -- finishing just in front of that year's Red Lantern winner in 33rd -- he volunteered his help. But it was the '76 race that inspired the Eagle River painter to come up with an idea that would bolster Iditarod finances for decades to come.
Having already decided to commit his memories of the trail to canvas, the acrylic painter suggested to Iditarod organizers there might be income generated by making one of the paintings into a poster and selling copies.
Income from those sales helped keep the Iditarod going in the early years, and because of Van Zyle's contribution, he has become the 17th inductee to the Anchorage Daily News Iditarod Hall of Fame. He joins popular musher DeeDee Jonrowe; Nome businessman, former mayor and Iditarod booster Leo Rasmussen; four-time champ Doug Swingley; musher and Iditarod pilot Don Bowers; three-time champ Jeff King; four-time champ Martin Buser; five-time champ Rick Swenson; four-time champ Susan Butcher; race founder Joe Redington; Ruby musher and race-altering champion Emmitt Peters; race veterinarian and former board president Bob Sept; Libby Riddles, the first woman to win the race; Herbie Nayokpuk, the legendary Shishmaref Cannonball; Dick Mackey, victor in the closest race in Iditarod history; Jerry Austin, three-time Sportsmanship Award winner and volunteer Joe Delia, who's open-door hospitality characterized the spirit of the race.
The board of directors liked Van Zyle's idea for a poster, but confessed there was no cash to finance it.
Not to worry, countered Van Zyle. He'd borrow money to get the posters made and then donate them, along with the art, to the race.
The first Iditarod poster appeared the next year.
Former Iditarod champ and board member Dick Mackey credits that artwork, and the art that followed, with bringing the race both money and attention.
"He wasn't nearly as famous then as he is now," Mackey writes in his memoirs, "but his Iditarod work became popular and raised a lot of money for the race.
"His work stirred the imagination of the fans. I've got Jon Van Zyle Iditarod pictures hanging in my living room today. He still paints a picture for the annual Iditarod poster. His help has been tremendous."
And it hasn't been donated solely in the form of posters.
Over the years, Van Zyle has provided all sorts of artwork for Iditarod merchandise. Today he has a marketing arrangement with the Iditarod Trail Committee, but in the early days he just gave away everything.
No one has an accurate account of the money raised by Van Zyle's donations, but some believe the contributions amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"His contributions through his pictures, paintings... was just immeasurable,'' Mackey said by telephone this week from his winter home in Arizona. "It was a significant contribution.
"When he first started, he'd make a picture and donate it. He never got paid."
In 1979, Van Zyle was named the Iditarod's official artist, a position he still holds today.
Other than that, he barely got a thank-you, although Mackey would later credit Van Zyle and fellow artist Fred Machetanz with key roles in generating Iditarod revenue during the race's difficult birthing period of the 1970s.
Van Zyle, who ran his second and last race in 1979, looks back on those years as a joyous time. He liked the dogs, the race and painting. For him, it was an almost ideal blend of interests.
"I first got involved in Iditarod in 1973," Van Zyle said. "It was a chance to travel with my dogs. It had nothing to do with art to begin with. I just liked to be out there with my dogs."
Van Zyle had grown up around them.
"My mom was an artist," he said, "but when I was kid we had kennels. That's was how she made a living, breeding dogs."
As a youngster, Van Zyle figured to become a veterinarian or an artist when he grew up. He didn't know that he'd end up as something of both -- a dog-mushing artist whose most notable work ended up featuring Alaska's Last Great Race.
Four years ago, Epicenter Press published "Jon Van Zyle's Iditarod Memories," featuring 25 years of his Iditarod posters along with his recollections of how they came to be.
Van Zyle continues to follow the Iditarod as a fan, though he no longer races.
He and wife, Jona, plan to follow the trail from checkpoint to checkpoint by plane again this year to collect material for future work and do some reporting for a sled-dog Web site.
The 61-year-old retired musher couldn't let go of the Iditarod if he wanted.
As Jona observed, "this race has meant so much to his life."
And he has meant so much to the survival of the race.
Daily News Outdoor editor Craig Medred can be reached at cmedred@adn.com.
Hall of Famers
• Jerry Austin, sportsman extraordinaire
• Don Bowers, musher and pilot
• Martin Buser, four-time champion
• Susan Butcher, four-time champion
• Joe Delia, volunteer
• DeeDee Jonrowe. musher
• Jeff King, three-time champion
• Dick Mackey, victor in closest race
• Herbie Nayokpuk, legendary musher
• Emmitt Peters, race-altering winner
• Leo Rasmussen, booster
• Joe Redington, race founder
• Libby Riddles, the first woman to win
• Bob Sept, veterinarian
• Rick Swenson, five-time champion
• Doug Swingley, four-time champion
• Jon Van Zyle, artist and musher
