Peter Charles Geoffrey Jackson (4 March 1922, in
Brighton – 2 May 2003, in
Northwood, London
Northwood is an affluent area in northwest London, England. It is located within the London Borough of Hillingdon on the border with Hertfordshire and from Charing Cross. Northwood was part of the ancient parish of Ruislip, Middlesex and has f ...
) was a British artist noted for his cartoon strip '
London is Stranger Than Fiction'.
Career
Jackson showed a talent for illustration from childhood. He attended
Hove High School and then
Willesden School of Art.
He submitted some sketches to the newspaper unsolicited in 1949 and through a lucky coincidence the paper was looking for an artist to do a strip about London at that time. He was hired and the strip become a success, giving rise to books of compilations of his work. The ''London Is Stranger Than Fiction'' strip ran every Wednesday in the
London Evening News newspaper. The strip featured quirky and little known historical facts about London in an easy to read illustrated cartoon strip. The strip ran continuously from 1949 until the paper closed for good in 1980.
He also authored the "''Saul of Tarsus''" cartoon, which appeared in the first issues of the
Eagle comic and reflected Jackson's religious faith. His work also appeared in the children's educational comics ''
Look and Learn
''Look and Learn'' was a British weekly educational magazine for children published by Fleetway Publications Ltd from 1962 until 1982. It contained educational text articles that covered a wide variety of topics from volcanoes to the Loch Ness ...
'' and
''Treasure'' ''.''
Jackson also became a notable collector of antiques and documents relating to the history of London. The Ephemera Society, presented Jackson with the Samuel Pepys Medal for his contribution to
ephemera studies. He co-authored a number of books on London and its history with
Felix Barker
Richard Felix Raine Barker (7 May 1917 – 11 July 1997) was an English journalist, drama critic and historian. He is known for having been the youngest dramatic critic on Fleet Street.
Biography
Barker was born in London on 7 May 1917, the so ...
.
Personal life
Peter Jackson married Valerie Harris in 1995. He is buried at
Highgate Cemetery
Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...
(West).
References
1922 births
2003 deaths
Artists from Brighton
British comics artists
British comics writers
British illustrators
Eagle (comic)
Burials at Highgate Cemetery
{{UK-cartoonist-stub