William J. Rechin (August 20, 1930 – May 21, 2011), better known as Bill Rechin, was an American cartoonist who created the
comic strips ''
Out of Bounds
In sports, out of bounds (or out-of-bounds) refers to being outside the playing boundaries of the field. Due to the chaotic nature of play, it is normal in many sports for players and/or the ball to go out of bounds frequently during a game. T ...
'' and ''
Crock''.
Born in
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...
, Rechin studied art at Buffalo's Albright Academy of Art, where he met his wife, Trish. He drew his first strip, ''Pluribus'', in 1971. In 1975, Rechin, Don Wilder (1934–2008) and
Brant Parker launched ''
Crock'', a strip depicting the French Foreign Legion. Wilder and Rechin began their ''Out of Bounds'' strip in 1986.
Rechin lived in
Spotsylvania County, Virginia
Spotsylvania County is a county in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the July 2021 estimate, the population was 143,676. Its county seat is Spotsylvania Courthouse.
History
At the time of European encounter, the inhabitants of the area that be ...
with his wife. The couple had seven children and eight grandchildren. He died of
esophageal cancer
Esophageal cancer is cancer arising from the esophagus—the food pipe that runs between the throat and the stomach. Symptoms often include difficulty in swallowing and weight loss. Other symptoms may include pain when swallowing, a hoarse vo ...
on May 21, 2011.
Awards
He received the
National Cartoonists Society
The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...
's
Newspaper Panel Cartoon Award for 1992 for his work on ''Out of Bounds''.
He was president of the NCS for part of 1988. His son, cartoon illustrator
Kevin Rechin, received the National Cartoonist Society
Magazine and Book Illustration for 1999, and was nominated for the same award for 1997. Kevin Rechin took over ''Crock'' in May 2011, with his brother-in-law, Bob Morgan, scripting.
References
Sources
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External links
National Cartoonists Society biography
1930 births
2011 deaths
American comics artists
Artists from Buffalo, New York
Deaths from esophageal cancer
American comic strip cartoonists
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