THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 5, 1994 TAG: 9407050074
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
His artwork fetched $600 in SoHo, but John R. Mason wasn't impressed.
The Virginia Beach Center for the Arts displayed his drawings, but Mason didn't go.
Suffolk's 94-year-old ``Hardee's artist'' doesn't draw for money or fame.
But a free biscuit and a cup of coffee?
``I never expected so much,'' says Mason.
Officials for Boddie-Noell Enterprises, which owns about 350 Hardee's restaurants, gave Mason a certificate last week granting him free breakfast for the rest of his life.
Only a few other people have received lifetime free-food certificates. But Mason has become somewhat of a community celebrity - and he's good for business.
For the past six years, Mason could be found most weekday mornings sitting at the corner table at Hardee's in Suffolk West Plaza sketching felt-tip drawings on pieces of 26-cent posterboard, in between sips of coffee and bites on peanut butter sandwiches.
His drawings, mostly of birds, moons and churches, surfaced recently at a Virginia Beach exhibit that was sponsored by a Manhattan gallery selling them for a few hundred dollars each.
Now people trickle in almost daily to visit his fast-food studio, snatching a few of his drawings. Some give him money, some don't.
Either way, he grips their hands and flashes them a big, toothy smile.
``I always come here, doing drawings and things, ya' know,'' he said Thursday, wearing his customary suit and tie. ``Free coffee? Good Lord, for me? Now that's really fine.''
Free breakfast for life might not sound like much of a commitment to someone 94 years old. But Mason has plenty of relatives who hit 100 and then some.
His free-food certificate is good at any Hardee's the company owns, not that he'd ever go to a different one. The Suffolk Hardee's is more like a community diner than a fast-food joint. And Mason enjoys the role of resident patriarch, sitting in a favorite seat, surrounded by familiar people, growling about the same politicians.
``There really ain't a stranger in the world to the man,'' said Shirley Humphrey, the hostess who looks after the Hardee's regulars.
``People come in all the time asking for the man who does the drawings,'' she said.
``And he'll tell you all about the drawings, every one. Just ask him,'' she said. ``He'll make you take one, too.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
MICHAEL KESTNER/Staff
John R. Mason, 94, holds one of his drawings in his ``studio'' in a
Suffolk Hardee's. Mason's art has been featured in art galleries and
sold for hundreds of dollars, but the only payment he has ever
received is free breakfast for life in the fast-food restaurant.
by CNB