Roy
Carless and Kerry J. Schooley
 Signed
as "Roi", Roy Carless
cartoons have been published in union and labour papers in
both official languages, in every province and territory of
Canada to the Arctic Circle, and in each of the United States
and its territories from Guam to Puerto Rico. At his peak,
Carless drew for upwards of 20 publications monthly, with
a combined circulation exceeding three million, an achievement
still unmatched by any other editorial cartoonist. All this
while working full time on an industrial assembly-line in
Hamilton, Ontario, and an unpaid officer of his union local
representing employees in the same plant.
First published in his school newspaper at Runnymede
Collegiate in Toronto, Roy began to take his gift for caricature
seriously when, in his late forties, he was discovered by
the late Duncan McPherson, editorial cartoonist for the Toronto
Star. McPherson offered advice and encouragement, and
sponsored Carless' membership into the American Association
of Editorial Cartoonists in 1971, the first labour cartoonist
to be accepted by the organization.
Talent with a brush and pen, a keen eye for
caricature and composition - Carless had them, but they mean
little in political cartooning without a quick sense of humour
and an ear for the rhythms of everyday life. Carless used
his humour to shed light on dark situations, making points
in ways easily understood and appreciated by lawyers and labourers
alike. He is a well-versed raconteur, with stories drawn from
the assembly line and the back seat of a limousine, sitting
next to Lady Bird, on a tour of LBJ's Texas ranch.
Carless' originals are now in collections from
the National Archives in Ottawa to the personal collections
of numerous politicians, including several Presidential Libraries.
His work has appeared in galleries in cities from Toronto,
Montreal, and Ottawa to Washington, Paris, and the Vatican.
Though his cartoons are in a number of anthologies, this is
the first collection devoted solely to this immensely talented
but overlooked Canadian artist’s own work. The
Carless Cartoon Collection: Not Bad for an Old Bastard
is a veritable catalogue of important labour, social and political
issues of the past forty years, essential to the collections
of artists, historians and anyone who enjoys a good laugh.
Kerry J. Schooley
is co-editor of three collections of Canadian noir fiction:
ICED, Hard Boiled Love, and Revenge,
all from Insomniac Press. His non-fiction and reviews have
appeared in local publications and on national radio shows.
As John Swan his fiction has appeared in two books: the Rouge
Murders (The Jasper Press) and Sap,
(Insomniac Press) and numerous journals and anthologies from
Blood and Aphorisms to Zygote.
As Slim Volumes his poetry has snuck into such diverse venues
as Frank, Mystery Review, Black Cat 115, Kairos, Tower, The
Globe and Mail, Hammered Out and the CBC’s Fresh Air.
Slim is also one half of the performance poetry duo, The New
Phrenologists.
Mr. Schooley is a creative writing teacher with
McMaster University’s Certificate in Writing Program
and has performed at many literary events in and around Hamilton.
The Carless Cartoon Collection: Not Bad
for an Old Bastard is dedicated to the memory his father,
Marshall Morris Schooley, who worked on the assembly-line
next to Roy Carless, and served with him in the United Electrical,
Radio, and Machine Workers of America Local 504.
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