Cartoon Compulsion Never Ends
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“Confessions of an Old Cartoonist”
45 years ago Brion O’Connor was a budding cartoonist. Drawing for his high school newspapers and then for The New Hampshire, the student newspaper at the University of New Hampshire – Durham.
“I started sketching my own panels, first for Bergen Catholic in New Jersey, and then Manchester Central High after moving to New Hampshire.”
“Arriving at the University of New Hampshire, I sought out the offices of the student newspaper, “The New Hampshire,” in the Memorial Union Building (located, conveniently, near the MUB Pub).”
“At a turbulent time of my life, that newspaper office and creating two cartoons a week on my father’s drawing table (a birthday gift from his parents) were welcome constants.”
But O’Connor’s cartooning career was hijacked by a career in journalism:
“When I started reporting, I had to shackle my love for political cartoons. Neutrality was paramount. But I kept drawing, doing a cartoon strip called “Ham Street Shuffle” (named after our street in Dover), and producing illustrations for newspapers early in my journalism career.
“Sadly, early editors kept asking me to do extra work. I eventually tired of those requests, and put my drawing pad away.”
A succcessful reporting career that for saw him writing for The Boston Globe, Sports Illustrated, Ski magazine, ESPN, The New York Times, and New Hampshire Magazine where his article appears and O’Connor admits to going back to one of his first loves:
“I’m literally going back to the drawing board, rekindling my love for cartooning.”
“Now, I’m sharpening my pencils again, starting with caricatures. I’m not sure where my doodling will lead me. But my wife reminds me that I still harbor those outsized opinions, and they still need an outlet.”
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