Tony Auth, 72, Inquirer political cartoonist for 40 years

WHEN GENE Roberts became executive editor of the Inquirer in 1972, he intended to turn the paper into a journalistic powerhouse.

First, he had to check out the staff to gauge its strengths and weaknesses, find out who would help him transform the paper from the lame publication it had become to a first-class regional paper.

One name caught his eye. Tony Auth was the political cartoonist, and the astute Roberts recognized quickly that Tony would be an important contributor to his plans.

"He was one of the strongest talents on the newspaper," Roberts said yesterday. "He was one of the key people I saw for the future of the newspaper."

William Anthony Auth Jr., the prizewinning and much revered political cartoonist for the Inquirer for 40 years, died yesterday of metastatic brain cancer. He was 72 and lived in Wynnewood.

"He was truly a national talent," said Roberts, who went on to lead the Inquirer to 17 Pulitzer Prizes in the 18 years he led the paper. "He was a brilliant guy, wonderful to be around. He had a wonderful sense of humor that was uniquely his."

And Tony went on to capture one of those coveted Pulitzers himself in 1976.

When Signe Wilkinson, the Daily News' political cartoonist and herself a Pulitzer winner, was introduced to Tony before she joined the Daily News, she said, "I felt that I was being ushered into a superstar's presence."

"In the 1970s, there was no Internet, no Jon Stewart, no Instapundits," Signe said. "For strong opinions in Philadelphia, there was Tony Auth."

When former Daily News reporter Kitty Caparella introduced them, Signe said, "He treated me as if I were an old cartooning pal. He radiated a happy joy in his work and made me want to join this odd, wonderful craft. He helped me land my first job and was generous with his time with other cartoonists."

Kitty Caparella, herself an artist, also introduced Tony to his wife, Eliza Drake, a landscape and portrait painter. They were married in 1982.

"He was warm and funny, very supportive of people who were coming up in the profession," Eliza said. "He was a great guy. He lived and breathed his job."

She said Tony drew many pictures for charities and, basically, for almost anyone who asked him for a drawing.

Tony, who started at the Inquirer in 1971 after working in California as a medical artist, left the newspaper in March 2012 and joined WHYY's NewsWorks.org, a website directed by Chris Satullo, a former Inquirer editorial page editor.

Harold Jackson, the current Inquirer editorial page editor, said Tony's departure was a great loss to the newspaper.

"I considered him a consummate journalist," Harold said. "It was really an honor to work with him. He always had his eye on the downtrodden. He hated to see people taken advantage of and he skewered people who did that in his cartoons. He was a great human being."

"It always struck me how he managed to get so much in so spare and simple a style," said Paul Nussbaum, an Inquirer reporter.

"He would arrive in the office in the morning just bubbling over with ideas," Paul said. "He would have a draft of his cartoon before noon. Nobody enjoyed his cartoons as much as he did. He would be rubbing his hands together and cackling, and he would laugh out loud."

"Editorial writers have the luxury of nuance," said Rick Nichols, a former member of the Inquirer editorial board. "Tony didn't have that. A cartoonist needs to smack you in the face. Tony was a genius at that. He could dish it out. He was good at skewering the high and the mighty."

Melanie Burney, a former member of the editorial board, said Tony "knew everything about the news. It was a pleasure and honor to work with him. His voice will be sadly missed."

Susan Q. Stranahan, a former member of the Inquirer editorial board and now a freelance writer, said Tony and his wife used to visit her at her home on Chebeague Island, Maine.

Once while visiting, Susan's 125-pound golden retriever died and Tony volunteered to help bury it. Maine is famous for its rocky soil, and after futilely trying to dig a grave, they gave up and called in a backhoe.

"He was crying," Susan said. "That was the kind of friend he was, always there for you."

Dick Polman, former Inquirer political columnist and now a journalism teacher at the University of Pennsylvania, said Tony would take rough drafts of his cartoons through the newsroom and solicit the opinions of staff members.

"I was flattered when he would stop at my desk," Dick said. "He would have a mischievous smile on his face. He would laugh like a little kid who just set off a stink bomb in church."

"He was a relentlessly upbeat, optimistic person," said David Boldt, former editor of the Inquirer editorial page. "Tony was a very active member of the editorial board and made constructive and informed comments that influenced writers' editorials."

Tony was born in Akron, Ohio, and was raised there and in Los Angeles. He was bedridden for eight months at age 5, and during that time began drawing.

He graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a bachelor's in biological illustration in 1965. He became a medical illustrator at Rancho Los Angeles Hospital, and drew political cartoons for an alternative newspaper before joining the Inquirer.

Tony published two collections of his cartoons and illustrated 11 children's books.

Beside his wife, he is survived by two daughters, Katie and Emily.

A memorial service will be held at a later date.