ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Wednesday, March 12, 1997              TAG: 9703120040
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-2  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: NORWALK, CONN.
                                             TYPE: NEWS OBIT 

'BLONDIE' CARTOONIST DEAD AT 75

Stan Drake, who illustrated the comic strip ``Blondie'' and created the classic romance strip ``The Heart of Juliet Jones,'' died Monday. He was 75.

Drake died at a Norwalk hospital after a long illness, a family spokeswoman said.

``The Heart of Juliet Jones,'' a collaboration between Drake and writer Elliott Caplin, debuted in March 1953. At the peak of its popularity, ``The Heart of Juliet Jones'' appeared in 600 newspapers.

In 1989, he turned the romance strip over to Frank Bolle to devote his time to illustrating ``Blondie,'' created in 1930 by Chic Young and seen in thousands of newspapers worldwide in 55 languages.

-ASSOCIATED PRESS

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