Steven F. Scharff

July 27, 2024 Steven F. Scharff, a self-professed "greymuzzle" (born in 1962), is a fandom writer and artist whose work has appeared in several self-published "mini-comix" in the 1980s, including Lab Rat Funnies, Everything You've Always Wanted to Know About Funny Animals But Didn't Know Why To Ask (which was a satire of the concept of anthropomorphics), and Dream Sequence, which he is expanding into a novel-in-progress entitled Packlands (originally entitled Scrolls), and is being published in installments in the Rowrbrazzle APA.

Creative works
His novel project Packlands has gone through several of false starts and re-writes, and he experienced a severe writer's block after Michael-Scot McMurry, who was to have illustrated the finished work, died of stomach cancer in 2001.

In the 1980's, Steven contributed to other comics projects, mostly small press projects by other artists, but did write and draw a two-page strip in Jane J. Oliver's underground comix work Tales of Jerry #3. He was also a staff writer for the marginalist newsletter Inside Joke, which he credits with learning how to write for an audience.

He has had a long standing interest in anthropomorphics, and became seriously involved in the furry fandom after fellow self-publishing artist Timothy Fay wrote to him about the Rowrbrazzle APA. He sent then Official Editor Marc Schirmeister samples of his work for consideration, including a political strip entitled The Rats Retire, which he printed and posted on the walls of Manhattan in 1980 as a public art project. Schirmester published the wall poster strips in the second issue of Rowrbrazzle. Scharff jokes about this making him "Rowrbrazzle's only draftee".

In 2010, he announced his plans to start a furry web-comic with the working title Return to Cloudhaven (earlier proposed titles included Serf City and State of Grace), set in a medieval society, once he completes work on his novel.

Present activities
Formerly a resident of Henderson, Nevada, he currently (as of 2017) resides in Sullivan County, New York. His avatar is a bighorn sheep, although he is known to use a fursona in printed work in the form of a "lounge lizard" dragon named "Oratorio". In 2012, he announced in Rowrbrazzle that Oratorio, and a "supporting cast" of other characters, were being placed under a "Creative Commons" license for others to use non-commercially.

He has also been active on-line as part of the "Peak Oil" movement and often refers to himself as a "peaknik".

In more mundane affairs, he maintained "The Microfreedom Index", an on-line resource devoted to various new country projects, independence/seditionist movements, model countries, unrecognized nations, disputed territories, governments in-exile, diplomatically recognized small nations and sovereign territories around the world. In 2016, he handed over ownership of the website to Travis McHenry. He is also an avid DVD collector of adaptations of the works of William Shakespeare.

In 2009, he became a member of American Mensa, Ltd., having passed the 98th percentile on the organization's test. From 2011 to 2013, he served as Program Chair for the Southern Nevada chapter of Mensa.