25 Facts About Ben Wicks

Ben Wicks learned to play the saxophone in the British Army and toured Europe in a band with author Leonard Bigg from London.

Ben Wicks immigrated to Canada in 1957 with his wife Doreen Wicks with just $25.

Ben Wicks found work as a milkman in Calgary and then joined the Canadian Army as a musician and began studying cartooning from books.

Ben Wicks then moved to Toronto to work for the Toronto Telegram and his cartoon, The Outcasts, was syndicated in over 50 newspapers.

Ben Wicks's cartoons were simply drawn but were very topical and witty and became popular with readers and were picked up by the Toronto Star after the Telegram ceased operations in 1971.

At its height, his daily cartoon, now called Ben Wicks, was carried by 84 Canadian and more than 100 American newspapers.

Ben Wicks had a self-effacing but charming personality and became a popular guest on television and radio shows and had his own television show on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in the 1970s.

Ben Wicks created and illustrated the Katie and Orbie series of children's books written by his daughter Susan, which in 1994 were turned into an animated series for Family in Canada and for PBS in the United States.

Ben Wicks had been canvassing all the suitable companies in Calgary, and came into my place one day accompanied by his wife Doreen.

Ben Wicks promptly offered to work for nothing on a trial period and I was impressed by his persistence and determination, plus his obvious ability to get along with people.

Ben Wicks showed me some samples of his work and I was frankly unimpressed, but there was something about him that appealed to me.

Ben Wicks was something of a disaster during his stay with me as he simply hadn't the experience and speed needed to cope with the world of commercial art, but we parted friends after a short time and stayed friends for many years.

Ben Wicks was godfather to our son Michael John Fisher, and was a frequent house-guest during his early years in Canada.

Ben Wicks was a professional charmer in the best sense of that word.

Ben Wicks was a hard worker and endured all the rejections and disappointments that go with trying to break into the cartoon business with good humour and a ready smile.

Ben Wicks readily admitted he couldn't draw worth beans, and I had to agree with him.

Ben Wicks was the classic example of a penniless immigrant making good.

Ben Wicks did it with a mixture of some talent and a lot of hard work and natural charm.

Canada Games published a board game in collaboration with Ben called "Quick Picks With Ben Wicks" which is similar in game play to Pictionary.

Ben Wicks opened a pub in Toronto's Cabbagetown district named The Ben Wicks.

However, a blue plaque commemorating Ben Wicks has been installed on the railing and a wall-sized outdoor cartoon by Ben Wicks has been retained.

Ben Wicks used his illustrations to publicize the plight of civilian sufferers of the Biafran War in Nigeria, and became a supporter of Oxfam.

Ben Wicks spent much time in his later decades promoting literacy among children.

In Wicks' memory, the annual "Ben Wicks Award" was given from 2001 to 2010 to young talented cartoonists by Regional Maple Leaf Communications.

In May 2007, Ben Wicks was the subject of a court case, as his children tried to reclaim 2,408 vintage drawings left behind in a 1992 move.