April 3, 2003

Pioneering comic strip creator
to speak at CSUS

Nationally acclaimed cartoonist Morrie Turner, whose popular “Wee Pals” and “Soul Corner” comic strips appear in newspapers worldwide, will be the keynote speaker at the Friends of the CSUS Library annual meeting at 3 p.m., Wednesday, April 9 in the University Union Foothill Suite.

Turner began drawing cartoons in the fifth grade and created “Wee Pals” in 1965 in an effort to bring black characters to the comic pages. Given the era, it was an ambitions goal that he did not achieve until three years later, when the comic strip was syndicated shortly after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in April 1968. Within three months, “Wee Pals” was appearing in more than 100 newspapers nationwide.

Turner is the recipient of the 2003 National Cartoonists Society Milt Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award, one of the society’s most prestigious honors. He was also awarded the 2000 Sparky Award, presented to the cartoonist who best reflects the values of “Peanuts” creator Charles Schultz.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information contact the Friends of the Library at (916) 278-5954. For media assistance contact the CSUS Public Affairs office at (916) 278-6156.

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