The strip's namesake,Shoe, is based on legendary North Carolina journalist Jim Shumaker, Jeff MacNelly's first newspaper boss. P. Martin Shoemaker is a grouchy, cigar-smoking, newspaperbird with a tough side and an even tougher other side. He is a proud ex-husband 5 times over. When not editing reporter Cosmo Fishhawk's stories and columns to shreds, he can be found trying his darnedest to pick up his next ex-wife or grumbling about the food at Roz's Diner.