Editorial cartoonist and illustrator David Boyd has passed away.
Robert David Boyd (Sr.)
October 1938 – September 20, 2022
From The Newnan (Ga.) Times-Herald obituary:
Legendary political cartoonist, artist and character David Boyd Sr., 83, passed away Tuesday after a long illness.
Boyd published his first political cartoons in 1968, in The Newnan Times-Herald. The cartoons were so popular that he ended up selling them to several other Georgia newspapers.
Later he partnered with local attorney Gus Wood to create Mark-Morgan Features, a syndicated newspaper service that, in addition to Boyd’s cartoons and comic strips, offered a political column, crossword puzzle, horoscope and church page. Mark-Morgan content was published in more than 200 newspapers.
Boyd was renowned for his political cartoons – in 1982, he became the first self-syndicated artist to win a Green Eyeshade Award for excellence in journalism – but his illustrations also appeared in books and magazines and on greeting cards.
He lent his considerable drawing talent to books by notable humorist Lewis Grizzard and created an entire series of iconic characters for comedian Jeff Foxworthy’s “You Might Be a Redneck” books and merchandise.
But Boyd’s real passion was politics. His scathing cartoon commentary made enemies of a wide swath of public figures. some of whom sought him out for a confrontation and left his presence having made a new friend. Others were greatly amused by his portrayal of them.
Boyd thrived on the furor and controversy he created and the people he met as a result, according to a 2016 story in The Newnan Times-Herald written after he announced his retirement from the cartoon business.
According to Allan Holtz Boyd’s Apple Pie weekly panel began in 1972
and his weekly The Sovereign State of Affairs strip began in 1976.
He apparently continued producing both until his retirement in 2016.
Fine Art America has a gallery of Boyd’s illustrations.
Sitting in the dining room of the 17th Road Hole at St. Andrews Golf Club at the end of a meal where each course was worse than the last our waiter arrived w dessert. Chocolate ganache. Only. No mint leaf, whipped cream just a dollop of dark brown on a white plate. One of my dinner/golf companions looked down then up and in the voice of Shelby Foote and Foghorn Leghorn said to our waiter, “My compliments to the dog”.
God bless David Boyd. He was my friend and I’ll miss his calls.
Saw Foxworthy at Juste pour Rire in Montreal just as his career was taking off and he absolutely killed. The key to the “You Might Be A Redneck” jokes — as also with Lewis Grizzard — were the affection he had and the fact that it was self-mockery. I think Boyd did a nice job of picking up on that.
So sorry to hear of the passing of David Boyd Sr. He was legendary in the world of humor and cartooning in our state and much admired by every cartoonist I knew. I always found it odd that he and I never met, as I worked at the same craft as he, at the Ledger-Enquirer in Columbus. Today, I so wish we had. Rest well, sir.
I grew up on his drawings for the Jeff Foxworthy books. I love his linework and drawings. RIP.