George Booth was a cartoonist for the New Yorker, who drew the magazine’s unofficial mascot of a bull terrier.
- Died: November 1, 2022 (Who else died on November 1?)
- Details of death: Died at his home in New York City of complications of dementia at the age of 96.
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Cartoonist
Booth studied art in school, before being drafted into the U.S. Marine Corps. He worked as a staff cartoonist on the Marine Corps publication Leatherneck, including during World War II and the Korean War. After serving, Booth worked as an art director for a trade magazine before selling his first cartoon to the New Yorker in 1969. He continued drawing for the magazine for 50 years, contributing his last cartoon in 2019 at the age of 92. Booth’s cartoons were known for their busy details, often including cats and dogs. One of his dogs, a squat and surly-looking bull terrier, became beloved by readers over its many appearances in Booth’s cartoons and became an unofficial mascot of the New Yorker. Among Booth’s notable cartoons was one drawn for the week of September 11, 2001, which contained no gag, only a recurring character sitting with her eyes cast down. His work was also featured on the New Yorker’s cover a number of times over his long career. Booth’s cartoons were collected in eight books, including the most recent, 2009’s “About Dogs.” He was honored in 2010 with a lifetime achievement award from the National Cartoonists Society.
Notable quote
“I’ve been drawing since I was 3 and a half, and my mother encouraged me, and I think it’s very important, for young mothers. Whatever they influence the little squirts to do, may be what he’s going to do all of his life. And that was, in my case, what it was. My mother was an artist. When I drew a cartoon of a Model T Ford stuck in the mud and I laughed about it–and I laughed and I laughed– it caught her attention so she started to encourage me to cartoon.” —from a 2016 interview with Jane Mattimoe
Tributes to George Booth
Full obituary: The New York Times
