Cartoonist. He is best remembered for his Western comic strip "Rick O'Shay," which was syndicated in about 100 newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Born Myron Stanford Lynde, he was raised on his father's sheep ranch on Montana's Crow Indian Reservation near Lodge Grass, Montana. After attending the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana, he served with the United States Navy during the Korean War. Upon his Navy discharge in 1955, he worked as a rancher and for a newspaper in Colorado Springs, Colorado, before moving to New York City, New York in 1956, where he found employment with the Wall Street Journal and enrolled in art classes at night. A desire to be a cartoonist since childhood, he created the comic strip "Rick O'Shay" in 1958, which was set in the West with mixed humor and strong storytelling, and it became a huge success. In 1977 he left the syndicate over a contract dispute and two years later he started another comic strip "Latigo," which was not as successful and it ended in 1983. From 1984 to 1985 he produced the weekly panel "Grass Roots" that was revived in 1998. In 2002 he produced another exclusive comic strip for Fantomen, called "Bad Bob," about a hopeless wild West criminal. He and his wife founded Cottonwood Publishing for which he wrote nine Western novels, including "The Bodacious Kid" (1996), "Careless Creek" (1998), "Vigilante Moon" (2003), "Saving Miss Julie" (2004), "Marshall of Medicine Lodge" (2005), "Summer Snow" (2006), "Vendetta Canyon" (2008), "To Kill a Copper King" (2010), and "The Big Open" (2012). In January 2013 he and his wife retired to Ecuador but moved back to Helena, Montana when he became ill, and died there of cancer at the age of 81.
Cartoonist. He is best remembered for his Western comic strip "Rick O'Shay," which was syndicated in about 100 newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Born Myron Stanford Lynde, he was raised on his father's sheep ranch on Montana's Crow Indian Reservation near Lodge Grass, Montana. After attending the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana, he served with the United States Navy during the Korean War. Upon his Navy discharge in 1955, he worked as a rancher and for a newspaper in Colorado Springs, Colorado, before moving to New York City, New York in 1956, where he found employment with the Wall Street Journal and enrolled in art classes at night. A desire to be a cartoonist since childhood, he created the comic strip "Rick O'Shay" in 1958, which was set in the West with mixed humor and strong storytelling, and it became a huge success. In 1977 he left the syndicate over a contract dispute and two years later he started another comic strip "Latigo," which was not as successful and it ended in 1983. From 1984 to 1985 he produced the weekly panel "Grass Roots" that was revived in 1998. In 2002 he produced another exclusive comic strip for Fantomen, called "Bad Bob," about a hopeless wild West criminal. He and his wife founded Cottonwood Publishing for which he wrote nine Western novels, including "The Bodacious Kid" (1996), "Careless Creek" (1998), "Vigilante Moon" (2003), "Saving Miss Julie" (2004), "Marshall of Medicine Lodge" (2005), "Summer Snow" (2006), "Vendetta Canyon" (2008), "To Kill a Copper King" (2010), and "The Big Open" (2012). In January 2013 he and his wife retired to Ecuador but moved back to Helena, Montana when he became ill, and died there of cancer at the age of 81.
Bio by: William Bjornstad
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