A collection of 2,500 cartoons by late Canadian cartoonist Ben Wicks that was the centre of a legal dispute has been donated to York University, wrote CBCnews.ca April 6.
Wicks’ family, who gained custody of the cartoons in a lawsuit, has donated the cartoons to the Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections at York’s Scott Library. The collection includes signed cartoons Wicks drew in the late 1960s and early 1970s for publications such as the Toronto Telegram, Toronto Star and Saturday Evening Post.
- The Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections at York University will house almost 2,500 cartoons drawn by Ben Wicks in the late 1960s and early ’70s, wrote the Toronto Star April 7. The late artist’s family was awarded ownership of the cartoons in a court battle after they were mistakenly left behind when a family member moved, and has donated them to York. Wicks’ cartoons were once carried in more than 200 newspapers.
- Wicks’ son Vincent had left three garbage bags behind during a house move, inadvertently leaving the new owners of his former home with the 2,408 images, wrote the National Post April 7. The donation to York Universityfulfills a promise made in May 2007: When the judge refused to declare "finders keepers" and instead awarded that the cartoons be given back to the family, Sue Wicks said her father’s doodled legacy would be archived.
- The archives of Canadian cartoonist Ben Wicks have found a home, wrote The Canadian Press April 6. Wicks was born in London in 1926 and immigrated to Canada with his wife, Doreen, in 1957. He worked as a milkman and musician, and served in the Canadian Army before finding fame for his drawings. He died in 2000.
Anniversary stamp designed by York grad
On June 12, Canada Post will be issuing a 54-cent stamp to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Boundary Waters Treaty between Canada and the United States, wrote The Niagara Falls Review April 7. York grad Paul Haslip (BFA ’76) designed the new stamp. It blends a 1909 historical, sepia-toned image of Niagara Falls with a more recent picture of the falls.
Haslip has been a graphic designer for more than 20 years. He has a fine arts degree from York University and studied for two years at St. Martin’s School of Art in London, England. In 1991, he founded his own company in Toronto, HM&E Design Communications. Haslip has designed seven other stamps for Canada Post, including one in 1999 for the 23rd annual FISA World Rowing Championships in St. Catharines.
She’ll be ‘relentless’
The city’s new ombudsman officially opened her office doors yesterday, but she has already been hard at work resolving 33 complaints since her appointment in November. Fiona Crean, who was once the executive director for provincial ombudsman André Marin, who brought the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. to its knees, said she’ll be “relentless” and “tenacious” in getting fairness for Torontonians dealing with the city, wrote The Toronto Sun April 7. “It will be a hallmark of my office,” she said yesterday. “(My responsibilities) cover the full gamut of life in Toronto in terms of the intersection between resident and government,” said Crean, who established the ombudsperson’s office at York University.
- For the city’s new ombudsman, or is that ombudsperson, what’s in a name, anyway? While the City of Toronto Act, which allows the city to create the position, uses the term "ombudsman", the city bylaw that creates it uses "ombudsperson", wrote The Toronto Sun April 7. Crean, who was appointed to the post in November and also established York University’s ombudsperson’s office and has worked with provincial ombudsman André Marin, said she doesn’t mind the title.
On air
- Yvonne Bohr, psychology professor in York’s Faculty of Health, spoke about issues surrounding satellite babies – infants who are sent to China by their parents to be raised by their grandparents until they are four or five years old, on Radio Canada International April 6.