Happy birthday, Chester Gould!
Tooday is the birthday of perhaps the most accomplished Oklahoma cartoonist of all time, Chester Gould. The creator of Dick Tracy, Gould was born in Pawnee, Oklahoma on Nov. 20, 1900. He died on May 11, 1985.
You can see impressive items from Chester Gould’s career at the Oklahoma History Center, where the Uncanny Adventures of Okie Cartoonists exhibit continues for about another month.
- Matt Price
Dick Tracy writer/artist Dick Locher to retire; strip to continue
As reported in the Washington Post and The Comics Reporter among others, “Dick Tracy” comic strip writer-artist Dick Locher will retire after 32 years. Dick Tracy was created by Pawnee, Oklahoma’s Chester Gould.
Dick Tracy’s birthday to be celebrated in Pawnee, Oklahoma
Bryan Painter of NewsOK reports on the Dick Tracy Birthday Celebration planned for this weekend in Pawnee, Oklahoma.
Painter writes:
It’s been 25 years since Chester Gould died at age 84 in Woodstock, Ill. But recognition of his work continues in Gould’s hometown of Pawnee.
On Saturday, Pawnee will be the site of the Dick Tracy 79th Birthday Celebration including a Dick Tracy Police Parade followed by a Dick Tracy Birthday Parade.
The Pawnee County Historical Society Museum has a section on Gould and Dick Tracy. Gould was born in Pawnee in 1900 and began drawing “Dick Tracy” in 1931. Check out the full story at NewsOK. More information is at wimgo.com.
- Matt Price
Darrell Gambill in the Dick Tracy Headquarters in the Pawnee Historical Museum,
Dick Tracy sticking around, syndicate says
NewsOK’s Extremely Graphic blog points out this Daily Cartoonist post in which Tribune Media Services says it has no plans to end “Dick Tracy.”
– Matt Price
Illinois’ Dick Tracy Museum to close
In sad news for fans of gumshoe Dick Tracy, created by Oklahoma’s Chester Gould, the Dick Tracy Museum of Woodstock, Ill., is slated to close.
The Chicago Tribune reports the Gould estate could no longer fund the museum, which opened in 1991, and it will close in June. Family members plan to make an internet site highlighting some of Gould’s letters and strips as a more accessible replacement.
– Matt Price
