Gene Patrick, Passing Scene Artist, 1936 - 2012

(Courtesy Morning Journal)

It was very sad to pick up the Morning Journal yesterday and see that Gene Patrick, the talented artist behind the Journal's The Passing Scene weekly cartoon feature in the 1960s and 70s had passed away. In case you missed it, here is the link to his obituary.

(Longtime readers of this blog remember that I'm a big fan of his Passing Scene cartoons and featured many of them in this space over the last few years, such as in this two-part series.)

Gene Patrick had a unique ability to sum up the week's local news events in simple cartoons that were funny, but never mean-spirited. His likenesses of local politicians and other officials were dead on, and added to the enjoyment of the strip.

Besides working for the Journal, he had several other careers. I'm sure many of you remember Gene's Hobby Hub, his small hobby shop that was located next to Yala's Pizza. And he had a career out in Hollywood as an extra in movies and TV shows.

I put out the call a few years ago to try and find out how he was doing, and had hoped that he would Google his name at some point, find his many mentions on this blog, and consequently drop me a line. I'm disappointed that it never happened.