Shanks, Bruce

Pulitzer Prize winning editorial cartoonist was born in 1908, and served for 23 years as political cartoonist for The Buffalo News.

Born in Buffalo of Scottish descent, he received his schooling at School 38 and Lafayette High School. He credited the head of the Lafayette art department, Miss Elizabeth Weiffenbach, with encouraging him in sketching and starting him on what was to be his real career. He cut short his schooling in 1927 to take a job as a copy boy for the Buffalo Express. even while he was "running copy," he began drawing cartoons. As he recalled later, he was the most surprised person in the office when the Express began running some of his cartoons. He later joined the former Buffalo Times as a regular cartoonist. In 1933, he moved across Main Street to what was to become his permanent home at The [Buffalo] News. In 1951, he was named The News editorial page cartoonist, and quickly won an international reputation. He won a large number of awards and honors, capped by the 1958 Pulitzer Prize for a cartoon, "The Thinker". He received 12 of the annual Freedom Foundation awards for cartoons. His 11 Page One awards of the Buffalo Newspaper Guild became almost an annual event. He retired from The News in April of 1974 and moved to Boca Raton , Florida. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage, April 12, 1980.