September 14, 2014

My Tony Auth original

As I learned this evening from veteran foreign affairs columnist Trudy Rubin, sadly the legendary Philadelphia Inquirer cartoonist Tony Auth has passed away. Growing up in Philly, I regularly saw and was impacted by his work (as by Trudy's!).

Some years back, I had occasion to meet Mr. Auth, at shiva for the late and beloved Chaim Potok with whom he had collaborated. When he introduced himself and offered his business card, I had two immediate responses: first awe, and then surprise that such a visual person could have a card with only text on it. He grabbed it back from me, pulled out a pen to doodle a few lines, and handed it back -- self-portrait complete.

No doubt his trademark selfie was widely repeated, but I don't know how many of his biz cards merited the same logo. I'm glad I asked.

Rest in peace.