Merle Howard Cunnington

1931-2013

Merle started his news career as a cartoonist with the San Fernando Valley News in 1964. The newspaper he worked for was locally owned and free to state honest, local opinions.

Merle is a member of The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC). During the 1970s the Valley News was purchased by the Tribune Company of Chicago. He was doing five cartoons a week when he left in May of 1978. Today the paper is known as the Daily News.

Merle donated approximately 2,300 original published cartoons to California State University, Northridge (CSUN) where they are being digitized for future use. Merle also taught History and Art at Columbus Middle School for many years.

Merle was born near Sun Valley, Idaho in 1931. He studied by correspondence with Art Instruction, Minneapolis, and later graduated from Utah State University in 1953 with degrees in History and Political Science. This was followed by study at The Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles. After service in the U.S. Army, Merle married Elsie Mae Hillam in 1957.

Merle passed away peacefully at home on April 4, 2013, after a courageous two year battle with Lymphoma cancer. He is survived by his wife, three children, ten grandchildren, one great grandchild, three step grandchildren and 5 step great grandchildren. He will be greatly missed.