Gerald Glynn "Dirk" West (October 23, 1928 – July 26, 1996) was an

editorial cartoon A political cartoon, also known as an editorial cartoon, is a cartoon graphic with caricatures of public figures, expressing the artist's opinion. An artist who writes and draws such images is known as an editorial cartoonist. They typically co ...

ist,

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, and mayor from

Lubbock, Texas Lubbock ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Lubbock County. With a population of 272,086 in 2024, Lubbock is the 10th-most populous city in Texas and the 84th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the ...

, most famous for his

caricature A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, ...

s of collegiate

mascots A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fictional, repres ...

. He was born in

Littlefield, Texas Littlefield is a city in and the county seat of Lamb County, Texas, United States. Its population was 5,943 at the 2020 census. It is located in a significant cotton-growing region, northwest of Lubbock on the Llano Estacado just south o ...

, but his family moved to Lubbock soon after. He attended

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...

where he drew cartoons for '' The University Daily'' student newspaper. He appeared as "Uncle Dirk" on a local children's program for three years while heading up his advertising agency, West Advertising. Beginning in the 1960s, he cartooned for the ''

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal ''Lubbock Avalanche-Journal'' is a newspaper based in Lubbock, Texas, United States. It is owned by Gannett. History ''The Lubbock Avalanche'' was founded in 1900 by John James Dillard and Thad Tubbs. According to Dillard, the name "Avalanche" ...

''.

Life

West was born October 23, 1928, in Littlefield, Texas, to James Marion and Ethel Raye Bennett West. He attended Lubbock High School and drew cartoons for the school newspaper. He died of a heart attack on July 26, 1996, in Lubbock, Texas.

Mascot cartoons

West's most famous works featured caricatures of the sports mascots of various universities, mostly those of the

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference also included schools from Oklaho ...

(and later the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

), but other schools appeared as well, usually because they were playing Texas Tech. His cartoons appeared in program books, on posters, and in magazines. Two of his characters would eventually be officially adopted by their respective universities: Texas Tech's Raider Red and the

University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

's Herbie Husker. West drew a semi-weekly one-panel

comic a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicat ...

in the ''Avalanche-Journals sports section where he would lampoon college mascots and coaches alike, as well as the stereotypes of various universities. Thus there was the dim-witted Texas A&M Aggie, the devout but overemotional Baylor Bear, the arrogant

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

Longhorn and of course Raider Red, whose bullet-riddled

Stetson Stetson is an American brand of hat manufactured by the John B. Stetson Company. "Stetson" is also used as a generic trademark to refer to any campaign hat, particularly in Scouting. John B. Stetson gained inspiration for his most famous ...

showed by the number of holes the number of game losses for Texas Tech so far that season. West would alter the image of his characters over the course of a sports season. A winning team's mascot would gradually get larger and tougher, the fans of losing teams would find their mascots growing thinner as the weeks went by.

Politics

After serving several years on the local Parks and Recreation Board and the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

, West was elected

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of Lubbock in 1978, but disliked politics so much as a result that he did not run for a second term (his single term ran from 1978 to 1980). He returned to his advertising agency and his cartooning, both of which he kept up until his death from a heart attack in 1996. An exhibition dedicated to West and his work opened September 25, 2005, at the Museum of Texas Tech University. It ran through January 2006.

References

External links

Sample Dirk West cartoon from 1974 with explanatory article
{{DEFAULTSORT:West, Dirk 1928 births 1996 deaths People from Littlefield, Texas American editorial cartoonists American male journalists American caricaturists 20th-century American journalists Mayors of Lubbock, Texas Texas Tech University alumni American mascots Cartoon mascots Lubbock City Council members 20th-century mayors of places in Texas