ROSEN David

ROSEN David

A person in a black shirt Description automatically generated                                A photo sent to Robert MacMillan by David Rosen.

Born 1955 in Montréal.

At 15 years old Dave began cartooning for the short-lived Montréal underground newspaper Logos, famous for mocking Mayor Jean Drapeau. Drapeau finally got his revenge when using the FLQ crisis as an excuse he had the paper closed down.  Dave’s cartoons, however, continued to appear in The Georgia Strait (Vancouver) and Berkley Barb (Berkley California), as well as the student newspaper McGill Daily from 1974 to 1977.

In the early 1980’s he freelanced his cartoons to alternative magazines in Montréal like, Blow Up (1982) and Open City (1984), in Saskatoon The Briarpatch (1983/4) and in Ottawa, Goodwin (1985). He also branched out into small circulation socially conscious magazines like This Magazine, and The Canadian Forum and the syndicate Union Art Service.

He was the Canadian editor and columnist for Target, a U.S. quarterly devoted to the art of political cartooning, from issue 6, Winter 1983 to issue 24 Summer 1987 when publication of the magazine ended.  Steve Bradley was Canadian editor for issues 1 to 4. There was no Canadian editor for issue 5.  Here Dave wrote a column called “Canadian Drawing Board” on political cartooning in Canada plus  interviews with Terry Mosher and Robert LaPalme. These efforts have been a valuable source of information for this encyclopedia.  It was at this time he edited an anthology Megatoons: Cartoonists Against Nuclear War.

In 1984 he became editorial cartoonist, for the Sunday Express, a Quebecor newspaper located in Montréal. The Express ceased operations in 1985, and he moved to the Sherbrooke Record in Sherbrook Québec. During 1986, he was on the jury of  le Salon International de la Caricature /The International Salon of Cartoons

He left free-lance cartooning in 1987, to pursue a career with C.B.C. radio. Beginning as an associate producer, he moved on to writer-broadcaster and freelance producer. While working with CBC Dave became involved in stand-up comedy from 1990 to 1995. It began as an idea he presented to the Gazette [Montréal]. He would write a feature on the subject for their entertainment section after taking a workshop on standup comedy offered by a local club. The Gazette accepted the idea and the inadvertent result was that Dave became a standup comic. He especially enjoyed the writing side of comedy which was a natural extension of the writing side of his editorial cartooning. The cartoon below reflects when he realized that if he wanted to keep the attention of his audiences he had to switch from satire to jokes.

In 1993, while still employed by the CBC, he returned to cartooning, drawing for Hour a Montréal alternative weekly until 2002.

Still on the CBC front Dave settled in as an on-air traffic reporter on the morning show Daybreak from 1995 to 2005. Having left standup comedy he wrote and produced What Happened (1996 -2001) a three minute syndicated radio spot, and followed this up with a comedy spot called That’s Showbiz 2001 to 2002. These were heard on CBC stations across Canada. Still involved in the print media, he created  The Quebec Neverendum Colouring and Activity Book in 1996 and in 1998 his cartoons plus jokes from What Happened  were collected together in a book with the same name.

Over 2000 to 2001, he returned to the stage and hosted a series of monthly experimental comedy shows called One Night Stand for which he was also producer/promoter.

To further his cartooning career, in the early 2000’s, Dave joined Artizans a cartoon syndicate operated by Malcolm Mayes with the result that his editorial cartoons began appearing in mainstream dailies like Toronto Star, Ottawa Citizen and Globe & Mail.  In 2002 he transferred from Hour to The Mirror, another Anglophone alternative weekly founded in 1985, and later purchased by Quebecor. He remained there till it was closed in 2012 as the pressures on print media from electronic media increased. This was effectively his retirement year as a decline in demand for editorial cartoonists accompanied the decline in print media. However, his cartoons continue to be used as illustrations in books like Marian Botsford Fraser’s Acting For Freedom.

Epilogue:

Probably because of his own intimate connections with alternative publications, Dave in 1984 began research for a projected book on cartoonists whose main outlets were fringe publications that is publications speaking to farmers, trade unionists, socialists, and during the 1960’s and 1970’s counterculture readers. He put together a sample chapter featuring socialist cartoonists from the 1930’s. No publisher was interested. Fast forward to 1993. He revived the idea in a new form and presented it to Library and Archives Canada. It was to be an exhibit presented by their subdivision the Museum of Caricature. Called Drawing in the Margins, it focused on the 1960’s and 1970’s featuring cartoonists like Avrom Yanovsk, Rand Holmes and Terry Mosher. It was accepted and Dave was hired as a guest curator. He collected the original artwork and wrote a catalogue for the show. A few weeks before the show’s premier Library and Archives Canada closed the Museum of Caricature. The stories of these cartoonists still seek their audience.

WORK:

CARTOONIST:

BOOK GRAPHIC:

Content & Cover:

The Quebec Neverendum Colouring & Activity Book. Véhicule Press, 1996.

The Stephen Harper Colouring & Activity Book. PopBoomBang Books, 2011.

 BOOK GRAPHIC ANTHOLOGY:

 Content editorial cartoon:

Best Canadian Political Cartoons, 1984. Ed., N.M. Stahl. For., Robert LaPalme. McClelland & Stewart Ltd. Sept. 1984: 61, 106, 124, 187.

Caricature Cartoons Canada. Ed., Terry Mosher. Linda Leith Publishing, 2012..

Portfoolio, The Year 85 In Canadian Caricature. Ed., Guy Badeaux & Alan King. Writ., Charles Gordon. Ludcom Inc. 1985.

Portfoolio, The Year 86 In Canadian Caricature. Ed., Guy Badeaux. Writ., Charles Gordon. Ludcom Inc. 1986.

Portfoolio…: The Year’s Best Canadian Editorial Cartoons. Ed., Guy Badeaux . Writ., Ken MacQueen Macmillan of Canada, ….
10: 1994. 11: 1995. 12: 1996.

 

Portfoolio …. The Year’s Best Canadian Editorial Cartoons. Ed., Guy Badeaux . Writ., Jay Stone. Macmillan of Canada, …
13, 1997. 14, 1998. 15, 1999. 16, 2000. 17, 2001.

 

Portfoolio 18: The Year’s Best Canadian Editorial Cartoons. Ed., Guy Badeaux. Writ., Scott Feschuk. McClelland & Stewart Ltd., 2002.

Portfoolio …. The Year’s Best Canadian Editorial Cartoons. Ed. & Writ., Guy Badeaux . McArthur & Co. …
19, 2003. 20, 2004. 21, 2005.

 

Portfoolio …: The Year’s Best Canadian Editorial Cartoons. Ed., & Writ., Warren Clements. McArthur & Co. ….
22: 2006.  23: 2009. 24: 2010. 25: 2011.

 BOOK GRAPHIC COLLECTION

 Cover & Content:

 What Happened? Véhicule Press. 1998.

PERIODICAL TEXT ANTHOLOGY:

 Cover advertisement for Morningside:

 Radio Guide, 4-1, January 1984: Inside front cover. Caricature of Peter Gzowski.

WRITER:

Essay unpublished:

“Drawing The Line: Radical Cartoonists of the Thirties.” This was a sample chapter for a proposed book on cartoonists who worked partially or completely for alternative publications.

PERIODICAL TEXT & GRAPHIC:

Content columns:

Target, 6, Summer 1983 to 24, Summer 1987. “The Canadian Drawing Board”.

 Content essays:

Target, Summer 1983: “Outrage On Tap: The Art of Aislin.”.

Target, Spring 1985: “Political Geometry: The Art of Robert LaPalme.”. This article first appeared in Open City, sometime earlier.

EDITOR:

BOOK GRAPHIC ANTHOLOGY:

Cover & content:

 Megatoons: Cartoonists Against Nuclear War. Eden Press, 1984.

SOURCE:

Article book:

Portfoolio, The Year 85 In Canadian Caricature. 1985: “David Rosen”: 214

Portfoolio 10: The Year’s Best Canadian Editorial Cartoons. 1994: “David Rosen”: 157.

Portfoolio 14: The Year’s Best Canadian Editorial Cartoons. 1998: “David Rosen”: 156.

Correspondence:

Emails between David Rosen & Robert MacMillan:
10 July 2019.

22 July 2019.

28 July 2019 5 August 2019. 11 September 2019.

24 December 2023

13-17, January 2024.

25-26 January 2024.

GALLERY:

A drawing of a person Description automatically generatedRadio Guide, 4-1, January 1984: Inside front cover.

C:\Users\Robert\Documents\CARTOONING ILLUSTRATION ANIMATION\IMAGE BY CARTOONIST\R\ROSEN David, Portfoolio 10, 157.jpgDave Rosen’s realization that standup comedy is about jokes. (See above). Portfoolio 10, 1994: 157.

A cartoon character in a blue dress Description automatically generatedThe Quebec Neverendum Colouring & Activity Book, 1996.

C:\Users\Robert\Documents\CARTOONING ILLUSTRATION ANIMATION\IMAGE BY CARTOONIST\R\ROSEN David, Portfoolio 23, bc..jpgPortfoolio 23, 2009: Back cover.

C:\Users\Robert\Documents\CARTOONING ILLUSTRATION ANIMATION\IMAGE BY CARTOONIST\R\ROSEN David, Portfoolio 25, 175.jpgPortfoolio 25, 2011: 175.

A cartoon of a face with glasses Description automatically generatedThe Stephen Harper Colouring & Activity Book., 2011.