"Morris Morrie Turner" (11-12-1923)

From Oakland California,his father was a Pullman porter and his mother a nurse, he began

drawing seriously in elementary school.He attended McClymonds High School;in in his senior year,Morrie moved to Berkeley to finish his high schools years at Berkeley High School.Doing this time he began questing why there were no minorities in cartoons,his mentor,Charles Schulz who who created peanuts,suggested he created one.In 1965 the strip wee pals became the first comic strip syndicated in the United States to have a cast of diverse ethnicity.Within 90 days of King's death, "wee pals"was appearing in over 100 newspapers nationwide.Morrie is also a published author with sales over a half a million,has 25 million daily readers throughout the U.S.and enjoys prominence in several international locales including Brazil,Jamaica, the Philippines and Africa.In 2003,the National Cartoonist Society recognized him for his work on this strip and others with Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award.Morrie contribute his talents to concerts by the Bay Area Little Symphony of Oakland California.He draws pictures to the music and of children in the audience.In 2009,Morrie visited Westlake Middle School in Oakland to give give a lesson to the OASES Comic Book Preachers Class of Drawing.He collaborated with the students of the class to create the book Wee The Kids from Oakland,which gives a chance for students to express their challenges,successes and pride in Oakland.