Bob Thaves

Robert Thaves (October 5, 1924 – August 1, 2006) was the creator of the comic strip Frank and Ernest, which began in 1972.

Early life Robert Lee Thaves was born on October 5, 1924, in Burt, Iowa, where his father, John, published local newspapers. His father died when he was 13.

Thaves's desire to become a cartoonist began in his childhood. He had no formal training; instead, he practiced by studying and drawing the works of other cartoonists. He was so skilled he could identify the cartoonist of a comic strip without looking at the signature.

He attended the University of Minnesota, where he received both a bachelor's and master's degree in psychology. His cartoons were published in the university humor magazine Ski-U-Mah and newspaper The Minnesota Daily.

During World War II, Thaves served in Europe in the Army's 89th Infantry Division. Often the quote is incorrectly attributed to Faith Whittlesey. Sometimes the quote is attributed to Ann Richards, who popularized the line in her 1988 Democratic National Convention speech, paraphrasing it as: "But if you give us a chance, we can perform. After all, Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels, " though Richards credited television journalist Linda Ellerbee for giving her the line. Ellerbee said she heard the line from a fellow passenger on an airplane.

Awards He won several awards for Frank and Ernest including the National Cartoonist Society Newspaper Panel Cartoon Award for 1983, 1984 and 1986. He won the H.L. Mencken Award for the best cartoon in 1985, and he was selected as "Punster of the Year" in 1990.

Death Thaves died of respiratory failure in Torrance, California at the age of 81.

Tributes Several comic strips paid tribute to Thaves in the weeks after his death in 2006: Candorville on August 14; Arlo & Janis on August 29, and Prickly City (a strip written by his King Baloo collaborator Scott Stantis) on September 10.