Meet The Longest Contributing Cartoonist For The New Yorker

At 95 years old, George Booth has put in more than 50 years of work for the popular magazine.

Print media may no longer be quite the same powerhouse it once was, but it still has some big names that everyone recognizes.

The New Yorker, for example, has been a household name since it was first founded in 1925. The magazine, which features journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry, has been well-received by readers everywhere – in New York and abroad.

Photo: YouTube/The New Yorker

We often see the final product as a whole, rather than deconstructing it to view all the individuals who’ve put massive amounts of time and effort into creating the magic behind The New Yorker.

But one very sweet, short biographical documentary directed by Nathan Fitch called “Drawing Life,” takes a moment to look at the life and career of George Booth. The 95-year-old is the oldest contributing cartoonist at The New Yorker.

Photo: YouTube/The New Yorker

As explained on YouTube, “In ‘Drawing Life,’ directed by Nathan Fitch, the New Yorker’s George Booth looks back on fifty years of work — including the only cartoon to be published in the issue following 9/11.”

Booth takes viewers on a stroll around his neighborhood in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, where he gets very personal. He shares all sorts of stories from his past including ones from his childhood, his time spent in the service, as well as the story of how he met his wife and became a professional cartoonist. Booth also shared a little bit about how his creative mind likes to work.

Photo: YouTube/The New Yorker

Booth even provides an in-depth look at his process for coming up with his art, saying, “Hey, look at that scene through the trees. Isn’t that – aren’t those trees so beautiful? You want that scene over there with all the trees and the brownstones, and the stairs, and the cars, and the street, you want to make a cover out of that? You gotta look at it, you gotta see it. Nobody would photograph it the way I see it.”

Booth became known for his artistic style which was dubbed “everyman” style. But more than that, Booth’s was the only illustration to be published in the issue of The New Yorker which followed the tragedy of September 11, 2001:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CTsdc7TMIF1/

As shared on Instagram, “This cartoon by George Booth was drawn in the days after the events of 9/11 had devastated the United States, and set in motion events that would lead to 20 years of war and countless casualties. It depicts George’s mother in a moment of prayer, her instrument laid down and her cat cowering. Employing cartooning in such somber circumstances is clearly delicate, but George got it.”

Check out the clip below:

What do you think of Booth’s long career? Do you regularly read The New Yorker? Let us know!

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