Sid Barron was an artist, best known for his cartoons on the editorial pages of the Victoria Daily Times and
the Toronto Star which made wry comments on contemporary life. They were often punctuated by a biplane
flying overhead trailing a banner that read "mild, isn't it."
Barron died on Saturday at age 88.
Barron was born in 1917 to an English woman named Daisy who had become pregnant by a Belgian soldier
billeted with her parents. After fleeing to Canada, she gave birth to Barron in Toronto. The two soon moved
to Victoria and lived with Daisy's older sister Florence, who adopted Barron. He didn't discover until much
later in life that "Aunt Daisy" was really his mother.
The youngster had a troubled home life and a speech impediment, and turned to drawing to compensate.
While growing up on Menzies Street, Barron developed a lifelong fascination with boats, making obsessive
scrapbooks of photographs and drawings of shipping on this coast.
At the age of 21 Barron met the precocious artist Allan Edwards, who gave him his first formal art lessons (in
the company of Pierre Berton, among others). Soon the young artist set off armed with elementary skills as a
commercial artist.
Barron painted schedule cards for the Union Steamships in Vancouver and designed boxes and neon signs,
eventually moving to Toronto where the prospects for magazine illustration were better. During the Second
World War he created original Canadian comic books and did war illustrations for the Toronto Star.
The next years were a blur, with marriages and children and travel to Paris and Spain. In the late 1950s,
Victoria Daily Times publisher Stu Keate asked Barron if he could do cartoons. He gave it a try and his
sardonic look at the Tweed Curtain, seagulls and the B.C. Ferries will never be forgotten.
the Toronto Star which made wry comments on contemporary life. They were often punctuated by a biplane
flying overhead trailing a banner that read "mild, isn't it."
Barron died on Saturday at age 88.
Barron was born in 1917 to an English woman named Daisy who had become pregnant by a Belgian soldier
billeted with her parents. After fleeing to Canada, she gave birth to Barron in Toronto. The two soon moved
to Victoria and lived with Daisy's older sister Florence, who adopted Barron. He didn't discover until much
later in life that "Aunt Daisy" was really his mother.
The youngster had a troubled home life and a speech impediment, and turned to drawing to compensate.
While growing up on Menzies Street, Barron developed a lifelong fascination with boats, making obsessive
scrapbooks of photographs and drawings of shipping on this coast.
At the age of 21 Barron met the precocious artist Allan Edwards, who gave him his first formal art lessons (in
the company of Pierre Berton, among others). Soon the young artist set off armed with elementary skills as a
commercial artist.
Barron painted schedule cards for the Union Steamships in Vancouver and designed boxes and neon signs,
eventually moving to Toronto where the prospects for magazine illustration were better. During the Second
World War he created original Canadian comic books and did war illustrations for the Toronto Star.
The next years were a blur, with marriages and children and travel to Paris and Spain. In the late 1950s,
Victoria Daily Times publisher Stu Keate asked Barron if he could do cartoons. He gave it a try and his
sardonic look at the Tweed Curtain, seagulls and the B.C. Ferries will never be forgotten.
| Sid Barron: 1917 - 2005 Robert Amos, Times Colonist May 2, 2006 |
BARRON, Sidney Arnold June 13, 1917
- April 29, 2006 Our Dear Sid died
peacefully in the loving care of Mount
St. Mary Hospital surrounded by his
family. He was born in Toronto in 1917
and at age two years, his family moved
to Victoria where he lived and grew up.
Sid attended South Park Elementary
and Victoria High School. He is best
remembered for all his incredible
editorial cartoons. Starting in 1957 at
the Victoria Times, reprinted also in
the Victoria Times Colonist; he
continued his career at the Toronto
Star for 30 years and for six years at
the Albertan paper in Calgary. The
majority of Sid's original cartoons are
now in the National Archives of
Canada. Sid's wonderful humour left
us with a legacy of laughter. His
famous line, "Mild isn't it?" and in
Calgary, "Aren't the mountains pretty
today?" will continue to bring great
memories with a smile. Sid was an
artist extraordinaire and one of
Canada's great icons. Sid continued to
paint for many years after retiring from
cartooning. He especially enjoyed plein
air painting with his wife Jesi. His love
of the sea would find him walking on
the beach looking for great treasure of
driftwood, coloured rope, and if very
lucky, a west coast glass ball. He
would say. "That's a 10!" Sid was one
of those "special" kind of people who
quite simply "made life fun." Sid will be
deeply missed by his wife of many
years, Jessamine, and his much loved
stepchildren, David Connor and young
Richard Connor, Susan Barron and
young Michael Barron; as well as his
sister, Florence Hartman and cousin,
Linda Forbes (Gordie). He will be
lovingly remembered by his daughter,
Lisa Barron Murray (Ramona and
Santana), his son, Steven Barron, Irene
Visser Barron, grandchildren Zoe and
Eamon, as well as daughter Catherine
McLeod (Olivia and Dallas). We give
special thanks to Dr. Derek Carroll, the
care workers, nurses and staff of
Mount St. Mary Hospital. Donations
may be made in Sid's memory to
Mount St. Mary Hospital or the charity
or your choice. A memorial service
was held at First Memorial Funeral
Chapel. 1155 Fort Street on Friday, May
5, 2006.
- April 29, 2006 Our Dear Sid died
peacefully in the loving care of Mount
St. Mary Hospital surrounded by his
family. He was born in Toronto in 1917
and at age two years, his family moved
to Victoria where he lived and grew up.
Sid attended South Park Elementary
and Victoria High School. He is best
remembered for all his incredible
editorial cartoons. Starting in 1957 at
the Victoria Times, reprinted also in
the Victoria Times Colonist; he
continued his career at the Toronto
Star for 30 years and for six years at
the Albertan paper in Calgary. The
majority of Sid's original cartoons are
now in the National Archives of
Canada. Sid's wonderful humour left
us with a legacy of laughter. His
famous line, "Mild isn't it?" and in
Calgary, "Aren't the mountains pretty
today?" will continue to bring great
memories with a smile. Sid was an
artist extraordinaire and one of
Canada's great icons. Sid continued to
paint for many years after retiring from
cartooning. He especially enjoyed plein
air painting with his wife Jesi. His love
of the sea would find him walking on
the beach looking for great treasure of
driftwood, coloured rope, and if very
lucky, a west coast glass ball. He
would say. "That's a 10!" Sid was one
of those "special" kind of people who
quite simply "made life fun." Sid will be
deeply missed by his wife of many
years, Jessamine, and his much loved
stepchildren, David Connor and young
Richard Connor, Susan Barron and
young Michael Barron; as well as his
sister, Florence Hartman and cousin,
Linda Forbes (Gordie). He will be
lovingly remembered by his daughter,
Lisa Barron Murray (Ramona and
Santana), his son, Steven Barron, Irene
Visser Barron, grandchildren Zoe and
Eamon, as well as daughter Catherine
McLeod (Olivia and Dallas). We give
special thanks to Dr. Derek Carroll, the
care workers, nurses and staff of
Mount St. Mary Hospital. Donations
may be made in Sid's memory to
Mount St. Mary Hospital or the charity
or your choice. A memorial service
was held at First Memorial Funeral
Chapel. 1155 Fort Street on Friday, May
5, 2006.
His style was topical but not political, akin to the British cartoonist Giles and Vancouver's Norris. In 1961 he
went to Toronto and, with an introduction from Pierre Berton, was taken on by the Star as alternate to their
popular Duncan Macpherson. Later, Barron mailed in his pictures from Calgary and Toronto -- according to
him, one suburb looked much like another. During those days a sneering ring-tailed cat took up residence in
the corner of each drawing, leaning on his elbow and holding showcards that made comments on the
curious doings of the humans.
Cartooning wasn't a lot of laughs for Barron.
"There are only 10 plots for a cartoon," he later said. "I'd sit there staring at the drawing, and tears were
falling on the drawing filling up the outlines." Creating those dense and articulate compositions sometimes
took his mind "to another level," alienating those closest to him.
"Cartooning is a lonely road to go," he mused.
In 1975, Barron met Jesi, a fellow artist destined to share his life. The two beachcombed together and
painted, Jesi focusing on sea wrack and Barron capturing kids playing in tide pools.
When the National Archives, and then the Glenbow Museum, bought huge piles of his cartoon originals, the
Barrons bought a Volkswagen van and hit the road.
Later, they left Victoria and moved to Coombs, where for 10 years they held open house in their twin studios
on an acre of rural property. There they contributed to the success of The Old School House arts centre but
longed to be back in Victoria.
"Anywhere would be better than up here in the winter," Sid wrote at the time. "Green and grey. No purple
shadows on the snow. Very few people."
Back in Victoria, Barron became physically diminished by a lifetime of heavy smoking, but he kept up his
regular walks along Cook Street to the seashore.
His paintings, and Jesi's, were for many years featured at the Gallery in Oak Bay Village. Barron's extensive
oeuvre includes finely detailed portraits of cargo vessels, stylized scenes of freighters at anchor and sunny
impressionist beach scenes.
Recently, Barron was hospitalized at Mount St. Mary where despite failing energy his irrepressible humour
flashed out. A recent sale of his remaining original cartoons to the archives assured his place as a delightful
and incisive observer of our times.
He is survived by wife Jesi, sister Florence Hartman, children, stepchildren and other relatives.
went to Toronto and, with an introduction from Pierre Berton, was taken on by the Star as alternate to their
popular Duncan Macpherson. Later, Barron mailed in his pictures from Calgary and Toronto -- according to
him, one suburb looked much like another. During those days a sneering ring-tailed cat took up residence in
the corner of each drawing, leaning on his elbow and holding showcards that made comments on the
curious doings of the humans.
Cartooning wasn't a lot of laughs for Barron.
"There are only 10 plots for a cartoon," he later said. "I'd sit there staring at the drawing, and tears were
falling on the drawing filling up the outlines." Creating those dense and articulate compositions sometimes
took his mind "to another level," alienating those closest to him.
"Cartooning is a lonely road to go," he mused.
In 1975, Barron met Jesi, a fellow artist destined to share his life. The two beachcombed together and
painted, Jesi focusing on sea wrack and Barron capturing kids playing in tide pools.
When the National Archives, and then the Glenbow Museum, bought huge piles of his cartoon originals, the
Barrons bought a Volkswagen van and hit the road.
Later, they left Victoria and moved to Coombs, where for 10 years they held open house in their twin studios
on an acre of rural property. There they contributed to the success of The Old School House arts centre but
longed to be back in Victoria.
"Anywhere would be better than up here in the winter," Sid wrote at the time. "Green and grey. No purple
shadows on the snow. Very few people."
Back in Victoria, Barron became physically diminished by a lifetime of heavy smoking, but he kept up his
regular walks along Cook Street to the seashore.
His paintings, and Jesi's, were for many years featured at the Gallery in Oak Bay Village. Barron's extensive
oeuvre includes finely detailed portraits of cargo vessels, stylized scenes of freighters at anchor and sunny
impressionist beach scenes.
Recently, Barron was hospitalized at Mount St. Mary where despite failing energy his irrepressible humour
flashed out. A recent sale of his remaining original cartoons to the archives assured his place as a delightful
and incisive observer of our times.
He is survived by wife Jesi, sister Florence Hartman, children, stepchildren and other relatives.