ABOUT MARTY GAVIN
Marty Gavin was born and raised in New York City and Long Island. With life in some tuff neighborhoods, he quickly learned how get along, get on and get over many obstacles when growing up. Marty’s charm, wit and toughness served him well when he joined the U.S. Navy. He was a sailor’s sailor and the officers and chiefs knew he was the one to go to when you needed something done. He went on to make the Navy a career and retired as a Chief Petty Officer. After retirement, Marty joined the Merchant Marines and travel the world some more. To say that Marty has had a colorful and distinctive life would be an understatement. Marty will be the first to admit that he has not always done things the legal way, the right way or the politically correct way. But as the song goes, he did it his way. Marty will not tell you, but I will - that he has a heart of gold and will do anything for you. The Old Sailor has been proud to call Marty a friend for almost 30 years. And, as you will see here, he is one of the best damn cartoonist in the country! I asked Marty to say a few words about himself and he offered:
“I gravitated to drawing around 8 years old. I found myself drawing on everything, but my favorite was the cardboard found on dry cleaned shirts. As a teenager the ceiling in my bedroom was completely covered in cartoons. I was first published at 14 yrs. old in a Lions Club Newsletter. It just might as well been the New Yorker, I was so excited.
I was the Navy Illustrator for the 1986 Statue of Liberty Celebration that had me working in Manhattan for 5 months. My work has appeared in All Hands Magazine and has been shared around the world. I've been a Political Cartoonist on and off for the past 20 years just outside of Charleston, S.C. for 3 local papers. I provided the art work for two 18 month Calendars to the Merial Corporation, an Animal Pharmaceutical company in their quest to educate Veterinarians about the danger of Heartworms in Dogs.
I try to teach every child who seems interested the basic technique in drawing. It has opened many doors for me, broken the ice on meeting new shipmates, made me a few bucks, got cranky people to smile, communicated with the deaf, celebrated a birthday and the list goes on. I sure would like to play a piano, strum a guitar or knock out a solo on a set of Ludwigs...but the gift I received was Cartooning and I wouldn't change it for the World.”