Kevin McVey, co-founder of the New Jersey chapter of National Cartoonists Society, passed away last week at the age of 83. His career was one of an editorial cartoonist, courtroom artist, theatrical caricaturist and single panel cartoonist.
Fellow New Jersey cartoonist Tom Stemmle writes about his friend:
In the mid-sixties, McVey and Evers began gathering New Jersey cartoonists together to enjoy monthly dinners for the purpose of talking shop and socializing. That soon led to more purposeful activities within the group when they started to pool their collective cartooning talents for civic good. They began traveling to New Jersey medical centers, military installations and veterans hospitals to entertain patients. Some of the group also traveled on a national and international basis to entertain, as part of the National Cartoonist Society/U.S.O. team. For years they were solely known as “The NJ Monthly Munchers”. In 1999, the group received a charter from the N.C.S., and officially became the N.J. Chapter.
Kevin McVey was best known as a theatrical caricaturist for New Jersey’s Bergen Record Newspaper. In 1984 he was won a special Reuben Category Award as best Theater Caricaturist. That year he bested The New York Times famed Al Hirschfeld and The New York Daily News award-winning Sam Norkin for the honor. In October of 2007, The N.J. Chapter bestowed The Tim Rosenthal Award to Kevin for his long and very valuable service. In addition, Kevin had served as past Membership Chairman to the N.C.S.