Bruce McKinley Shanks (January 29, 1908 – April 12, 1980)''Florida Death Index, 1877-1998'' was an American editorial cartoonist who worked for the '' Buffalo Evening News'' during the middle of the 20th century. There he won the annual

Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning Pulitzer may refer to: *Joseph Pulitzer, a 19th century media magnate *Pulitzer Prize, an annual U.S. journalism, literary, and music award *Pulitzer (surname) *Pulitzer, Inc., a U.S. newspaper chain *Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, a non-prof ...

for "The Thinker" (August 10, 1957), which showed "the dilemma of union membership when confronted by corrupt leaders in some labor unions". Shanks was born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

, the son of George Shanks, who owned a local sign painting business. From 1924 to 1927, he attended Lafayette High School, where he was taught by art instructor Elizabeth Weiffenbach, who later (1936-1939) also influenced the style of science-fiction cover artist

Kelly Freas Frank Kelly Freas (August 27, 1922 – January 2, 2005) was an American people, American artist known for his work in science fiction and fantasy, with a career spanning more than 50 years. He was known as the "Dean of Science Fiction Artists" ...

. Shanks began his employment with the ''Buffalo Evening News'' as a copy boy. His first cartoons appeared in the sports pages. One character created by Shanks was Olaf Fub, a name derived from "Buffalo" spelled backward. A drawing of Fub and the phrase, "Olaf Fub sez ..." continued to introduce the commentary of ''Evening News'' writers on local events even well after Shanks' death. Another character who appeared frequently in Shanks' editorial cartoons was John Q. Public. That name was created by Vaughn Shoemaker, another editorial cartoonist, and is now a

placeholder name Placeholder names are intentionally overly generic and ambiguous terms referring to things, places, or people, the names of which or of whom do not actually exist; are temporarily forgotten, or are unimportant; or in order to avoid stigmat ...

in the United States. Shanks' cartoons were widely distributed by syndicators throughout the U.S. and the world at the height of his career, so he may have contributed to the establishment of the placeholder. Beside the Pulitzer, Shanks won eight

Freedoms Foundation Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge (now Founding Forward) is an American non-profit, non-partisan, non-sectarian educational organization, founded in 1949. The foundation is located adjacent to the Valley Forge National Historical Park, near Val ...

awards and several Page One Awards from the American Newspaper Guild. During World War II, Shanks served in the U.S. Army from 1942 to 1945.''U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010'' He died in

Palm Beach, Florida Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from West Palm Beach, Florida, West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach, Florida, ...

in 1980.

References

1908 births 1980 deaths American editorial cartoonists Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning winners Artists from Buffalo, New York The Buffalo News Pulitzer Prize winners United States Army personnel of World War II Lafayette High School (Buffalo, New York) alumni {{US-cartoonist-stub