I started as assistant to Billy DeBeck in 1934. 1942 flight radio operator with Pan-Am airways, Africa, LTD. Later Sgt. United States Marine Corps. Special Services in Washington, DC. Created the comic strip "Hashmark" for Leatherneck magazine. DeBeck passed away in 1942 and I took over the strip and began featuring Snuffy, which I was more comfortable with, being a confirmed hayseed from the sticks. Received Banshees award of the "Silver Lady" in 1962 and in 1964 the "Best Humor" strip in 1962 and the coveted "Reuben" from the National Cartoonist Society. Then in 1984 I received the Elzie Segar Award for outstanding contribution to the art of cartooning.
Ten years later in 1994, Joe D'Angelo presented me with my second Elzie Segar Award "a bronze popeye" to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Barney Google and Snuffy Smith. I have produced five "Draw and Color with Uncle Fred" videos for children, one in Spanish. Produced a bilingual laserdisc with barcodeed workbook and a hypercard stack of computers. Now sending my dailies to King Features by email and developing an "Uncle Fred" web page for the Internet. Married to my sweet and adorable Shirley since 1964. We have four beautiful his and her younguns and two bodacious grandghildren "one of each".
1 comment:
Thank you for your wonderful tribute to Fred Lasswell. He is truly one of our greatest most genuine, imaginative, humorists, inventors, cartoonists, educators and humanitarians--He was humble to the core --and he never missed a cue to make us laugh or see things from a simpler, more enlightened perspective. I grew up with Fred Lasswell. Every surface in our home was always full of creative inventions and projects (His, Hers and Ours). Every detail of life and nature inspired his imagination. He loved his work and especially every one of his fans, who he worked for seven days a week, 365 days a year. --He was also the best father and creative mentor anyone could ever have. Thank You ---Pati Slesinger Lasswell
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