ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 16, 1996 TAG: 9603180116
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C2 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHICAGO
TYPE: NEWS OBIT
SOURCE: TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES
"Gil Thorp" creator Jack Berrill died Friday at his home in Brookfield, Conn., after a long battle with cancer.
Berrill entered the newspaper business in 1941 as an $18-a-week copyboy for the New York Daily News, where his work was noticed by "Winnie Winkle" creator Martin Branner. Berrill became Branner's assistant and worked for him over the next 17 years.
Berrill struck out on his own in 1958, creating "Gil Thorp," the legendary strip about a high school coach that addresses one of the most critical audiences - teens. Berrill had always wanted to do a sports strip and combined efforts with what is now Tribune Media Services when the syndicate was looking for a strip about teen-agers.
Berrill kept up with the times, taking the square-jawed Gil Thorp from the crew cuts, hot rods and slumber parties of 1958 to the teen pregnancy, divorce and drug issues of today.
Berrill had this to say about Gil Thorp's problem-solving techniques, ``He's not a guy you can put in a slot. He has no set formula for solving problems, just lots of common sense.''
The strip was named after two of Berrill's heroes - Jim Thorpe and Gil Hodges.
Berrill was born in Brooklyn in 1923. He was graduated from Brooklyn Tech High School in 1941 and married his high school sweetheart Veronica Dawson in 1947.
Berrill also was the creator of "Teen-Wise," a weekly strip featuring advice for adolescents, and a volunteer family counselor with his wife.
``Jack Berrill represented one of the great storytellers in the comics world. He was a skilled artist, a true sportsman and humanitarian,'' said Mark Mathes, managing editor for the Tribune Media Services syndicate. Mathes said the Gil Thorp strip will continue uninterrupted to newspaper clients across the country.
LENGTH: Short : 46 linesby CNB