Cartoon Review of '72 [Bruce Shanks] [1972]

Buffalo, New York: Buffalo Evening News, Inc, 1972. Stapled Binding. Very Good. 0x0x0. Shanks, Bruce. Spine toned. 1972 Stapled Binding. Unpaginated. By the Pulitzer Prize Winning Editorial Cartoonist. A collection of outstanding editorial cartoons--many of which have been reproduced by newspapers throughtout the world--reprint from the editorial pages of Buffalo Evening News. Bruce McKinley Shanks was born in Buffalo, N.Y., in 1908 and is best known for his editorial cartoons in the Buffalo Evening News. He had no formal art schooling, although his interest in cartooning started to develop during his years at Lafayette High School. He began his career with the News in 1927 as a copy boy and soon began drawing cartoons for various local newpapers, including the Buffalo Express and the Buffalo Times. He joined the staff of the Buffalo Evening News in 1933 and remained there for the next four decades, aside from his time working for Military Intelligence during World War II. His illustrations originally appeared in the sports section, but in 1951 Shanks's work began showing up on the editorial page and was reprinted in approximately 30 newspapers throughout the country. (The cartoons were not syndicated, and Shanks allowed papers to run them free of charge as long as they gave him credit.) One popular character he created was "Olaf Fub" ("Buffalo" spelled backward), who continued to appear in the News long after Shanks left. The cartoonist was an outspoken critic of Senator Joseph McCarthy. The artist won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning in 1958 for his August 10, 1957 cartoon "The Thinker," which, the Pulitzer committee noted, depicted "the dilemma of union membership when confronted by racketeering leaders in some labor unions." Shanks also won twelve Freedom Foundation awards, the National Safety Council Award in 1960, several Page One Awards from the American Newspaper Guild, and recognition from the National Fight Against Communism. In 1964 he published 1964 Cartoon Review by Bruce Shanks, Pulitzer Prize Winning Editorial Cartoonist, which was followed by Shanks for the Memories (1968) and Cartoon Review of '72 (1972). Shanks was married to Louise Shanks for more than 30 years. He retired from the News in 1974 and died in 1980. - Burchfield Penny Art Center