Stan Mack (b. May 13, 1936) is an American

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and g ...

best known for his series, ''Stan Mack's Real Life Funnies'', which ran in ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

'' for over 20 years. His ''

Adweek ''Adweek'' is a weekly American advertising trade publication that was first published in 1979. ''Adweek'' covers creativity, client–agency relationships, global advertising, accounts in review, and new campaigns. During this time, it has cover ...

'' comic strip, ''Stan Mack’s Outtakes'', covered the New York media scene. An early comic strip was ''Mule's Diner'', which ran in the '' National Lampoon.'' Mack was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

but grew up in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

, and is a graduate of the

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase the ...

. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

, stationed at the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

at West Point, in the Department of Social Sciences. Before turning to cartooning, Mack was the art director for Book Week at the ''

New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the '' New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...

'', and art director of the Book and Education Department and ''

The New York Times Sunday Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. ...

'' at ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

.'' ''Real Life Funnies'' was notable for its semi-documentary feel: all dialog was culled from Mack's observations, and reported as "100% Guaranteed Overheard". He said of it: "This job gave me an excuse to accost people, to be pushy and aggressive. ... I learned to take notes on my shirt cuffs and walk backward in crowds. But most of all I learned to listen to what ordinary people have to say."Andrew Jacobs
"The Voice to Stan Mack: 'It's Been Real, but . . .'"
''New York Times'', August 13, 1995. With his late partner Janet Bode, he cowrote several young adult nonfiction books, including ''Heartbreak and Roses'', ''Hard Time'', and ''For Better, For Worse''. He has also created children's picture books, including ''Where's My Cheese'' and ''10 Bears in My Bed''. In 1998, Mack wrote and illustrated ''The Story of the Jews: A 4,000 Year Adventure'', a humorous cartoon look at the history of the

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. In his 2004 book ''Janet & Me: An Illustrated Story of Love and Loss'', he wrote about his eighteen-year relationship with Bode and her eventual death from cancer. Mack's latest book, with Susan Champlin, is ''The Road to Revolution'' (2009), the first of a series of historical graphic novels for young people.

References

Sources

* National Association of Art Directors, ''Art Direction'' (Advertising Trade Publications, 1967).

External links

* * * * * , a TV special of the same name. * Living people 1936 births The Village Voice people {{US-cartoonist-stub Rhode Island School of Design alumni