Don Asmussen
Don Asmussen | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | December 9, 2021 | (aged 59)
Occupation | Editorial cartoonist |
Employer | San Francisco Chronicle |
Website | www |
Donald Asmussen (October 31, 1962 – December 9, 2021)[1] was an American cartoonist working for the San Francisco Chronicle and Universal Press Syndicate.
Career
Asmussen was born in
At the Examiner, Asmussen started his first weekly comic strip, San Francisco Comic Strip. He later drew Super Average Joe and short comic strip serials for events he covered on location, including Republican Convention Comic Strip[1] and strips on the Super Bowl, the World Series, and the Burning Man festival. His strip The Hero Santon appeared in Salon and in Mad magazine.[5] A strip by him ran in Time from 1998 to 2001.[2]
His most recognized strip, the semi-weekly Bad Reporter, began in the San Francisco Chronicle in 2003 and ran under the slogan "The lies behind the truth, and the truth behind those lies that are behind that truth."[2][6] The strip was syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate. It was on hiatus from 2018 to 2019 during Asmussen's cancer treatment and last updated in March 2021.[1]
Books
In 1997, Asmussen published a collection of his comic strips, The San Francisco Comic Strip Book of Big-Ass Mocha.[7]
In 2006, he published Dog vs. Cat: A Nation Divided, a parody of the 2004 presidential election.[8]
In 2019, Asmussen collaborated with blogger Mary Ladd on The Wig Diaries, a collection of humorous essays about cancer by Ladd with illustrations by Asmussen.[6][9]
Personal life and death
Asmussen was married to Kelly Zito, a former reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle. They had two daughters.[3][10]
He was diagnosed with cancer in the mid-2010s, which recurred in 2018, including a brain tumor[11] for which he underwent surgery.[3] In February 2019, he announced on social media that it had "spread to his organs".[12] He died on December 9, 2021, at the age of 59.[1][10]
References
- ^ a b c d e Degg, D.D. (December 10, 2021). "Don Asmussen – RIP". The Daily Cartoonist.
- ^ a b c d "Don Asmussen". Universal Press Syndicate. Archived from the original on April 4, 2007.
- ^ a b c d Hartlaub, Peter (December 17, 2021) [December 16, 2021]. "Chronicle cartoonist Don Asmussen: Brilliant artist found humor in the headlines (and everywhere else)". San Francisco Chronicle.
- ^ "The witty, subversive work of Chronicle cartoonist Don Asmussen". San Francisco Chronicle (slideshow). December 16, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
- ^ "Contributor: Don Asmussen". Mad Trash. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
- ^ a b Asmussen, Don (January 27, 2020). "Bad Reporter". SFGate.
- ISBN 978-0965352468.
- ISBN 978-0-7407-6191-1. Archived from the originalon October 24, 2006. Retrieved January 20, 2007.
- ^ Jones, Kevin L. (November 6, 2019). "Datebook: SF writer laughs at cancer with 'Wig Diaries,' a guide for grown-ups". The San Francisco Chronicle.
- ^ a b "Datebook: Don Asmussen, longtime Chronicle cartoonist, dies". San Francisco Chronicle. December 10, 2021.
- Lewiston Tribune.
- ^ Degg, D.D. (February 25, 2019). "Don Asmussen Health - Update". The Daily Cartoonist.
External links
- "Cartoonist Don Asmussen's obituary, in his own words", San Francisco Chronicle, December 12, 2021
- Bad Reporter archive at San Francisco Chronicle
- The Hero Santon archive at Salon.com