Paul Karasik reported yesterday the March 16 death of Fletcher Hanks Jr., son of golden age cartoonist Fletcher Hanks. The cause of death was complications resulting from a car accident two days prior. He was 90.
Though mainly known by comics fans as the son of the recently rediscovered artist, Hanks led a coloful and vibrant life:
From July 1942 to August 1945, Hanks, sometimes called “Christy” by his colleagues, flew 347 trips in unarmed C-47s delivering supplies to inaccessible areas of China using a path from India over the south ridge of the Himalayas called “The Hump.” Years later, in 1997, he returned to China and he and a group of Chinese soldiers found the wreckage of CNAC 53, the airplane piloted by American Jim Fox and his Chinese co-pilot and operator.
After the war and because of his entrepreneurial spirit, Hanks returned to Lehigh to help raise funds to build quarters on campus for the college’s fraternities. His salesmanship skills were legendary during his college days. To help pay his tuition, he was an agent for 13 newspapers, waited tables in the prep school’s dining hall, sold stationery, and peddled shirts, socks and other men’s attire bearing the Real Silk label.
He eventually returned to Oxford, where to keep busy, he invented the hydraulic conveyor clam-digger that still is in use today. That invention landed him an appearance on the television game show, “What’s My Line?” He had a seafood packing business and retired from that in 1978.
Lots more in the link. You can see recent pictures of Hanks here.
March 25th, 2008 at 9:52 am
It’s interesting that the son of a pulp creator would live such a pulp life.
Stardust, were he real, would have been disgusted with his war profiteering and tossed him into the sun after inflating his head to massive size though.
March 25th, 2008 at 10:34 am
Man, that sucks. Christy led an amazing life.