George Fisher (cartoonist)
George Fisher (8 April 1923 – 15 December 2003) was an American political cartoonist.
Early life
George Fisher was born just outside of
Education and Participation in War
Fisher attended Beebe College for one year, after which he withdrew to join the
While stationed in
Career
At the conclusion of the war, Fisher returned to West Memphis, Arkansas, and began drawing cartoons for the West Memphis News. The newspaper was run by former soldiers who had returned from the war and determined to stand up to the political machine that controlled local and statewide politics at the time. Fisher worked for the newspaper until it was forced to close.
Fisher moved to
Fisher convinced the weekly North Little Rock Times to start carrying his political cartoons and, before long, other newspapers began reprinting them in their Sunday editions.
In 1972, Fisher began drawing cartoons twice per week for the statewide Arkansas Gazette and became the newspaper's official cartoonist in 1976. Fisher gained a very active following in the state of Arkansas and became an Arkansas institution. Fisher's work was never syndicated, because he preferred to focus mostly on affairs in his home state, but many of his cartoons were reprinted nationally.
Death
Fisher died of a
His wife died in 1983, but Fisher continued to hide her nickname in his cartoons as a tribute.
Fisher's most famous statewide cartoon was a drawing of Governor Orval Faubus addressing a session of the Arkansas legislature where everyone present, even the mice and statues, had the face of Orval Faubus.
His most famous nationally reprinted cartoon was on the occasion of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.
His work has been published in several anthologies and he has been acclaimed as one of the great cartoonists of the 20th century.
Fisher was buried at Beebe Cemetery in Beebe, Arkansas.
This article is originated from Internet-Encyclopedia, December 22, 2003.