New York remembers the Daily News’ legendary cartoonist & columnist, Bill Gallo, today with his passing last night, due to an complications of pneumonia at White Plains Hospital at age 88. He was the sports cartoonist for the News for 70 years.
According to the News, while he had been ill and in the hospital or home, he’d be working on columns and cartoons. He’d be surrounded by trays of dark pens, colored pencils, erasers, and paint brushes in a Dixie cup. He said shortly before his passing, “I’m enthusiastic about working today.” This really showed the kind of character he had; age was nothing but a number to him. He once said, “My philosophy on age is: Don’t bother me, I’m busy.”
Gallo was a real life-time achiever. “The passing of our great cartoonist, colleague and friend Bill Gallo marks the end of an era,” said Daily News Chairman & Publisher Mortimer B. Zuckerman. “From the time he arrived at the Daily News as a fresh-faced kid determined to make his mark in the city and the world, to the very end when he battled his final illness with grit, courage and grace – rarely skipping a cartoon or a column – Bill was a class act.” Gallo first started at the news as a copy boy, soon after graduating high school where he started art. He served as a Marine during World War II and returned to work at the News as a picture clerk and enrolled in Columbia University four years after serving in the war. After Columbia, he moved on to the School of Visual Arts.
Gallo married Dolores Rodriguez in 1950 and was promoted to sports cartoonist just 10 years later, and had been in that position until last nite.
Gallo has also won many awards for his work, such as Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Cartoonists Society in 1998. He was also a 20-time recipient of the Page One Journalism Award, and a host of other awards. Most importantly, at least for us here at LatinTRENDS, he was a 2010 recipient of the Latino Trendsetter Award for his work at the News.
See most of his popular cartoons, all the way to the last one published on April 19th, here.
Here are the Mayor’s thoughts on the New York’s legendary Bill Gallo:
“For more than half a century, Bill Gallo chronicled the highs and lows of the New York City sports world with all the passion of our most zealous fans. He brought smiles to our faces in both victory and defeat, by celebrating heroes and satirizing goats with such humor and heart. Though most of his cartoons ran in black and white, his colorful voice was a hallmark of the Daily News and a real New York institution. As the sports and newspaper industries have undergone major changes, Bill Gallo was a constant, timeless presence. He will be missed by millions, and our thoughts and prayers are with his family.”
Share this:
Facebook
Instagram
RSS