Gus Arriola Dies
Posted by Slobokan @ 22:07 · 158 words · print
Cartoonist Gus Arriola, whose long-running "Gordo" was one of the first syndicated comic strips to celebrate Hispanic culture, died Saturday following a lengthy illness, according to his publicist. He was 90.
Arriola, who had suffered from Parkinson's disease for some time, died at home in Carmel with his wife, Mary Frances, by his side, according to publicist Alan Richman.
Arriola, who was born in Arizona but of Mexican-American descent, started drawing "Gordo" in 1941.
His strip about a bean farmer-turned-tour guide who taught Americans about life south of the border ran for 44 years in as many as 270 newspapers. He retired in 1995.
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Arriola learned about Mexican culture from his father, who was born on a hacienda in the Mexican state of Sonora and from growing up as the youngest of nine children in Florence, Ariz., about 120 miles northwest of the border.
He would later recall that he learned to speak English by reading the Sunday funny pages.
Posted In: Obituaries
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