Gary Brookins

A cartoonist and painter living in Richmond, Virginia, Gary Brookins draws the comic strips "Pluggers" and "Shoe." "Pluggers" is distributed by Tribune Content Agency to over 60 newspapers nationwide, including the Boston Globe, Dallas Morning News, Denver Post, St. Paul Pioneer-Press, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, The Tennessean (Nashville) and Richmond Times-Dispatch. "Shoe" appears in 450 newspapers worldwide and is distributed by King Features Syndicate. After a 30-year career as a syndicated political cartoonist based at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Gary has escaped the daily grind of nine-to-five office life, grabbed his paint box and is happily meandering back roads all over the South, searching for those great American icons, rusty old Fords and Chevys, greasy diners and dinosaur-infested carpet golf courses. A native of Florida, he received a BA degree in Studio Art from the University of West Florida. He and his wife, Janet, have four sons, two daughters-in-law and three grandchildren.