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Terry Mosher

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"Aislin" redirects here. For other uses, seeAisling (name).

Terry Mosher
BornChristopher Terry Mosher
(1942-11-11)11 November 1942(age 81)
Ottawa,Ontario
NationalityCanadian
Area(s)Author
Cartoonist
Humanitarian
Pseudonym(s)Aislin
AwardsNational Newspaper Awards(2)
Canadian News Hall of Fame
Order of Canada
Aislin: Canadian Cartoonist & Author

Christopher Terry Mosher,OC(born 11 November 1942) is a Canadianpolitical cartoonistfor theMontreal Gazette.He draws under the nameAislin,a rendition of the name of his eldest daughter Aislinn (without the second 'n'). Aislin's drawings have also appeared in numerous international publications, such asPunch,The Atlantic Monthly,Harper's,National Lampoon,Time,The Washington Star,The New York Timesand the Canadian edition ofThe Reader's Digest.According to his self-published website, as of 2020, he is the author of 51 books.[1]

Life and career

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Born inOttawa,Ontario, Mosher attended fourteen different schools inMontreal,TorontoandQuebec City,graduating from theÉcole des Beaux-artsin 1967. He famously won entrance to thisfine artscollege (now part ofUQAM) by forging his high-school graduation certificate, which he called his most successful work.[2]During his summers as a student, Mosher started drawing cartoons, "portraits of American tourists" on the cobbled stone streets of Quebec City.[3]After graduating with a Bachelors of Arts degree, rather than paint, Mosher decided to continue to draw and become a political cartoonist.[3]He has admitted that he knew little about his chosen trade, and the lack of historical books about Canadian political cartooning made the transition a challenge.[4]However, he adapted quickly, and in 1969, he was appointed official cartoonist ofThe Montreal Star,one of two Montreal English-language newspapers.[5]He moved to theMontreal Gazettein 1972.

Mosher began his career during a period of political change in Canadian and Quebec history. In 1967, Prime MinisterLester B. Pearsonstepped down as leader of theLiberal Party of Canada,andPierre Elliott Trudeauassumed its leadership, becoming the 15th Prime Minister of Canada.[6]In the fall of 1970, Montreal found itself in the middle of what is known as theOctober Crisis,in which the pro-sovereigntist group Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnapped and killed Pierre Laporte, a senior Quebec cabinet minister.[6]The Federal Government, led by Pierre Trudeau, invoked theWar Measures Act,thereby suspending civil rights and liberties.[6]In 1976, theParti Québécois,a sovereigntist party, was elected for the first time in Quebec history. These events gave Mosher "a phenomenal, sort of varied experience, to be drawing material on all of these different matters".[3]

Mosher published his first ever cartoon in September 1967, a drawing of Charles de Gaulle in theSaturday Nightmagazine.[3]His first cartoon published in a newspaper (The Montreal Star) was on 10 December 1967.[7]It was about a police raid of an African entertainment group that had been rumoured to have gone topless.[7]Since December 1967, he has published over 13,000 editorial cartoons.[7]

A cartoon that Mosher himself describes as "probably the best remembered of any cartoon I’ve drawn"[8]is one depicting the newly elected Premier of Quebec, René Lévesque, holding his customary cigarette, saying, “O.K. Everybody Take a Valium!” reflecting the Anglophone community's angst towards their future in the province.[7]The cartoon was drawn on the night when the pro-sovereigntist Parti Québecois won the 1976 election.

Mosher's cartoons have evolved over time and, with the evolution of the internet, he has been concentrating on the appearance of drawings in the virtual format rather than print: "I draw cartoons now, not how it will look in the newspaper, but how it will look on the screen".[3]

Mosher has partnerships not only with newspapers but with a board game and bookstore as well. Mosher famously turned down shares in the board gameTrivial Pursuitfor which he provided the original artwork. The co-inventor,Chris Haney,gave Mosher a choice: $1,000 or shares. Mosher took the cash.[9]He also provided a cartoon for the logo of a Montreal bookstore, Paragraphe Bookstore.[10]

Mosher and fellow Montreal cartoonistSerge Chapleauwere the subject of a 2003 documentary film,Nothing Sacred,directed by Garry Beitel.[11]

Exhibitions

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In 1997, Mosher's work was presented in the McCord Museum of Montreal alongside fellow cartoonist Serge Chapleau's work.[5]The Cartoon Calamities!a 2012 exhibition covering 150 years of current events through the drawings of Quebec cartoonists including Aislin.[5]

In 2017, the McCord Museum presented another exhibition,Aislin: 50 Years of Cartoons,celebrating 50 of Mosher's best political cartoons spanning 50 years from 1967 to 2017.[5]The exhibition was not only a showcase of his work, but also an introduction to Montreal, Quebec, and Canadian political history.[5]The exhibition was divided into five main themes: A Changing Society, which showcased a Leonard Cohen cartoon; Quebec and Canadian Politics, which concentrated on political events such as the election of the Parti Québecois, and the Quebec referendums on sovereignty; Montreal Mayors, focusing on Jean Drapeau and 1976 Montreal Olympics; First Ministers, detailing political leaders such as Pierre Trudeau, Réné Levesque, Brian Mulroney and Justin Trudeau; and finally, Montreal Life, showcasing cartoons reflecting Montreal's joie de vivre.[5]

In late 2017, Mosher had another exhibition at the Ottawa City Hall Art Gallery where his cartoons were presented.[12]The exhibition was titledTerry Mosher- From Trudeau to Trudeau: Fifty Years of Aislin Cartoons.[12]

Personal life and philanthropy

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Mosher has two daughters, Aislinn and Jessica, who are bothMcGill Universitygraduates.[4]

Mosher's love for baseball led him to be part of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.[13]

Mosher has had a long association with theOld Brewery Mission,Montreal's largest shelter for thehomeless,and in 2001, was appointed to the institution's board of directors.[14]

Honours and awards

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Mosher is the recipient of twoNational Newspaper Awardsand five individual prizes from the internationalSalon of Caricature.He was awarded President Emeritus by the Association of Canadian Cartoonists.[14]In 1985, Mosher became the youngest person ever to be inducted into theCanadian News Hall of Fame.In 2002, he was made an Officer of theOrder of Canada.In 2007, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters fromMcGill University.In 2012, he was inducted into the Canadian Cartoonist's Hall of Fame (aka The Giants of the North) in a ceremony in Toronto as part of the 8th Annual Doug Wright Awards for Canadian Cartooning. He received the Canadian Version of theQueen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medalin 2002.[15]and the Canadian Version of theQueen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medalin 2012.[16]

In June 2018, Mosher was awarded an honorary doctorate fromConcordia University.[17]

Controversy

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In 1993, MPRobert Laytondenounced Aislan's cartoon depicting outgoing Prime MinisterBrian Mulroneylying face down in the snow after having been tripped by a whistlingPierre Trudeau[18]as "a crime against fundamental Canadian values of decency and mutual respect", making him the first political cartoonist censured in theHouse of Commons.[18][19]

On 12 March 2010, Mosher drew a cartoon depicting a woman in aniqabwith prison bars and a lock in place of her eyes. The cartoon was drawn in reference to a Montreal Muslim woman who refused to remove her niqab upon entering a French-language school and was asked to leave.[20]Salem Elmenyawi, the president of the Muslim Council of Montreal, pointed out that he had made similar cartoons about women wearing ahijab.[21]Elmenyawi explained that the cartoon creates an inaccurate depiction of women who wear niqabs by "not respecting the fact they tried to be true to the faith the way they understood it and the way they think it's right."[21]Mosher defended his cartoon indicating that it is necessary to have more than just one view represented.[20]

On 8 April 2020, Mosher posted a cartoon of Donald Trump with a swastika as his coat of arms.[22]As a result of the extreme backlash towards the cartoon, the Montreal Gazette published a modified version of the cartoon without the swastika included in the emblem.[22]

References

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  1. ^Aislin: Canadian Cartoonist & Author
  2. ^"Aislin Receives Honorary Doctorate from McGill".aislin.com.
  3. ^abcdeWiart, Nikki (27 July 2016)."Terry Mosher, Aka 'Aislin,' on 50 Years of Cartoon Commentary".Maclean's.
  4. ^abMosher, Terry (31 May 2007)."Aislin Receives Honorary Doctorate from McGill".Aislin.
  5. ^abcdefMcCord Museum (26 July 2017)."Aislin: 50 Années De Caricatures".Musee McCord.
  6. ^abc"The October Crisis".cbc.ca.Retrieved9 December2020.
  7. ^abcdMosher, Terry (2017).From Trudeau to Trudeau: Aislin Fifty Years of Cartooning.Canada: Aislin Inc Publications. p. 18.ISBN978-0-9958255-1-2.
  8. ^Doyle, Sabrina (5 December 2016)."The Story behind This Famous René Lévesque Cartoon".Canadian Geographic.
  9. ^Allan Gould (1984)."How a motley crew of Investors took a flier on a new game called Trivial Pursuit -- and are on their way to becoming newly minted millionaires".allangould.com.Retrieved11 February2015.
  10. ^Mosher, Terry (2017).From Trudeau to Trudeau: Aislin 50 Years of Cartooning.Canada: Aislin Inc. Publications. p. 9.ISBN978-0-9958255-1-2.
  11. ^Nothing Sacred(Documentary film). Montreal:National Film Board of Canada.2003.
  12. ^abBonnell, Keith (7 October 2017)."From Funny to Outrageous: Political Cartoonist Terry 'Aislin' Mosher Reflects on a Life Well Drawn".Ottawa Citizen.
  13. ^Alan Hustak."Terry Mosher | The Canadian Encyclopedia".thecanadianencyclopedia.ca.Retrieved9 December2020.
  14. ^ab"Terry Mosher – aka Aislin – The Montrealer".themontrealeronline.com.Retrieved9 December2020.
  15. ^General, Office of the Secretary to the Governor (11 June 2018)."Recipients".The Governor General of Canada.
  16. ^General, Office of the Secretary to the Governor (11 June 2018)."Recipients".The Governor General of Canada.
  17. ^"Aislin awarded honorary doctorate from Concordia University".montrealgazette.
  18. ^abMesley, Wendy (30 April 2017)."From Trudeau to Trudeau: Political cartoonist Aislin looks back at 50 years of drawing Canada".CBC News.Retrieved15 October2017.
  19. ^"Terry Mosher".The Canadian Encyclopedia.Archivedfrom the original on 4 October 2016.Retrieved4 August2017.
  20. ^abPitt, Bob."Canadian cartoonist defends anti-niqab image | Islamophobia Watch".Retrieved9 December2020.
  21. ^ab"Niqab Gazette cartoon steps up debate".Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.12 March 2010.Retrieved4 August2017.
  22. ^ab"Aislin: Swastika for Freedom in the Montreal Gazette".Israel Diaries.18 April 2020.Retrieved9 December2020.
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