Happy Birthday Jim Garner, and Welcome To Paradise Cove, Rob!

As is my custom, every year I honour James Garner on the anniversary of his birthday with a new caricature depicting him in one of his film or TV roles. More often than not, I like to draw him in his most beloved role as Jim Rockford in The Rockford Files. However, this year is more poignant than usual, as the man I have illustrated next to Jim in this piece is Robert Howe, who for many years has created and run a Facebook fan page for Jim called The Official James Garner Fan Page, currently with 167,000 dedicated followers. Tragically, just two weeks ago on the morning of March 22 2026, Rob Howe passed away peacefully in his armchair at the age of just 67. 

Personally I was devastated at the news, as I’d gotten to know Rob quite well through his Facebook page over the last 15 years or more, and he was a real champion of my art, always posting my annual caricatures of Jim to share with his many fans. Rob was such a good guy, and I always appreciated his immense generosity and enthusiasm for my caricatured depictions of our mutual favourite actor, as well as our ongoing chats about Jim's films and TV series. Not only was Rob a longtime fan of Jim Garner - he actually got to work on the set of The Rockford Files in its last couple of seasons, so he had gotten to know Jim and several of the series’ regulars, like Joe Santos and Noah Beery Jr. when he was still just in his late teens! Later on, Rob compiled a lot of his fond memories of working on the set in a book he self-published called The Rockford Files- Behind The Scenes, available here on Amazon.

I am still reeling from the news of Rob’s passing, as I’d coincidentally been chatting with him on Messenger only two days before and it just doesn't seem possible that he's gone. Rob leaves behind his beloved wife, Sheilagh, his family, and a vast legion of friends who interacted with him daily through his James Garner fan page and love him dearly. RIP Rob, my wonderful friend - I’ll miss you greatly, but I’d like to believe you’re now up in the REAL Paradise Cove alongside Jim Garner, probably sharing tacos while fishing off the pier.