Lute Pease
Encyclopedia
Lucius Curtis Pease better known as Lute Pease, was an American editorial cartoonist
and journalist with a lengthy career through the first half of the 20th century.
Born in Winnemucca, Nevada
, Pease was raised by grandparents in Charlotte, Vermont
from the age of five after the death of his parents. He grew up to embark on an adventurous life, as detailed in a 1949 Editor & Publisher
article:
He was also editor of The Pacific Monthly in Portland, Oregon
.
of Newark, New Jersey
from 1914 to 1954.
His papers are on file at the Huntington Library.
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
and journalist with a lengthy career through the first half of the 20th century.
Born in Winnemucca, Nevada
Winnemucca, Nevada
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 7,174 people, 2,736 households, and 1,824 families residing in the city. The population density was 867.5 people per square mile . There were 3,280 housing units at an average density of 396.6 per square mile...
, Pease was raised by grandparents in Charlotte, Vermont
Charlotte, Vermont
Charlotte is a town in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. The town was named for Sofia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, youngest daughter of Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.The population was 3,569 at the 2000 census....
from the age of five after the death of his parents. He grew up to embark on an adventurous life, as detailed in a 1949 Editor & Publisher
Editor & Publisher
Editor & Publisher is a monthly magazine covering the North American newspaper industry. It is based in New York City. E&P calls itself "America's Oldest Journal Covering the Newspaper Industry" and describes itself on its website as "the authoritative journal covering all aspects of the North...
article:
- This deceptively plain-looking gentleman is close-to-80-years old Lute Pease, nationally-known cartoonist whose work for 34 years has been reproduced in magazines and newspapers from coast-to-coast. But few of those who admire his work with pencil and brush—often compared to the best in PunchPunch (magazine)Punch, or the London Charivari was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and engraver Ebenezer Landells. Historically, it was most influential in the 1840s and 50s, when it helped to coin the term "cartoon" in its modern sense as a humorous illustration...
—are aware of Pease's extraordinary background that springboarded him into caricaturing the world's great. He eagerly recalls a series of amazingly vivid memories that meander blithely over America and back through his Trader Horn-like years before heeding the call of art. It was a medley of ranching, canvassing, small-business trials, land-locating efforts—"I tried to get in on the 'Oklahoma Strip' months before the rush"— freighting with oxen on the White Pass in '98, five years of Alaska mining, wood-chopping, running a Nome bunkhouse during the time of the 'Spoilers,' and being first resident U.S. Commissioner in northwestern Alaska. To say nothing of being the intimate of the great and the near-great the country over. As a cub reporter-sketch artist (before the days of the halftoneHalftoneHalftone is the reprographic technique that simulates continuous tone imagery through the use of dots, varying either in size, in shape or in spacing...
) on the Portland OregonianThe OregonianThe Oregonian is the major daily newspaper in Portland, Oregon, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 1850...
, Nevada-born Pease, got the famous five-minute interview with Mark TwainMark TwainSamuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
which that renowned humorist praised as "the most accurate and best ever written of me."
He was also editor of The Pacific Monthly in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
.
Newark Evening News
In 1912, Pease married Nell Christmas McMullin, and the couple headed for the East Coast, where he worked for Newark Evening NewsNewark Evening News
The Newark Evening News was an American newspaper published in Newark, New Jersey. As New Jersey's largest city, Newark played a major role in New Jersey's journalistic history. At its apex, The News was widely regarded as the newspaper of record in New Jersey. It had bureaus in Montclair,...
of Newark, New Jersey
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
from 1914 to 1954.
His papers are on file at the Huntington Library.