Canadian editorial cartoonist Yardley Jones joins the Senior Strippers club
by celebrating his 90th birthday with friends on May 2, 2020.
Former Journal cartoonist Yardley Jones and columnist Nick Lees mainly made faces at one another Saturday when Lees went to celebrate the 90th birthday of his friend Jones, now living in a west end seniors’ home. Covid-19 prevented Jones from leaving, and Lees from entering, McConnell Place. Sally Munro
NIck Lees celebrating in The Edmonton Journal:
Yardley, who had sold a cartoon to the Liverpool Echo in his teens, continued to draw and became The Edmonton’s Journal’s first editorial cartoonist in 1962.
He later worked as a cartoonist for both the Toronto Telegram and the Montreal Star, winning a National Newspaper award in 1971.
“Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau was to present the awards and I didn’t attend the dinner,” says Yardley. “I thought he had screwed Alberta over resources.”
When he returned to the Journal in 1984, Yardley and I really gelled.
The mayoral candidates ride in on their horses. From left to right: Margaret Campbell, Stephen Clarkson (riding atop Keith Davey), and William Dennison. Cartoon by John Yardley-Jones. Source: The Telegram, November 29, 1969. (via The Torontoist)
Yardley’s entry at Canadian Animation, Cartooning and Illustration:
Born 1930, in Liverpool, England, he grew up in Wales.
He became a boxer at age 14 years and fought 150 professional fights over nine years. Over this time he
studied to be a draftsman and freelanced cartoons to various English publications.
Happy Birthday Yardley!
