Ran a ferryboat on the Rhine who converted pagans and was eventually made an involuntary martyr [St. Fidgeta & Other Parodies, 66].
Goar of Aquitaine was a hermit who received Holy orders early in life and secured the salvation of a great number of souls. About 618 he retreated to an area near the town of Oberwesel where he built a small chapel to live an existence completely detached from material and perishable things. Nevertheless it was impossible for him so to conceal himself that his reputation did not spread far and wide. He died in Germany and in 1768 a small church was dedicated to him in the town on the banks of the Rhine that bears his name. He is the patron saint of hotel keepers and innkeepers.
"Goar is a bit aggressive in giving his passengers no choice about Christian conversion, and by providing terminal baptism," explains Dale Fitschen. "Plus his agressive style of conversions are bad for local business since no one is making it across the river. The powers that be, in this case the local bishop, plan to solve the problem by giving Goar no choice about becoming a martyr and subsequent sainthood. Human history being what it is, the story reflects some of the more ludicrous moments in church history, or any religion's history, right up to the present and continuing in some parts of the world. But to try and give it a historical explication is getting too heavy for such a light tidbit."
"John brought over a couple of his little sketches, and Marilyn gave it her treatment," says Dale, of the all-illustrated chapter, The Fable of Goar. "You'll notice some echoes of Walt Kelly's style with the breaking and bending of the frame and ending with a silhouetted frame."
