Byow! Cartoonist With Cut Through Remembered

John Kent, well-known political cartoonist, lecturer and illustrator, died on April 13 aged 65. Born in Oamaru, Kent’s work was a familiar feature in Private Eye,  Guardian, Daily Mail, The Sun and, finally, The Times. He will be remembered for such original and provocative strips as Grocer Heath, the long running political and sexual satire Varoomshka, Fifth Form at St Maggie’s and Cap’n Bob. “New Zealand politics were rough on the surface and rough beneath; British politics seemed perfumed with courtesy, but oiled in subtlety. The culture shock gave him the clarity of vision to cut through the cant and the double standards.”

John Kent: June 21 1937 – April 14 2003