Irreverent B.C. political cartoonist Adrian Raeside joins The Armchair Mayor News

For many years, Adrian Raeside’s humorous but insightful political cartoons graced the Opinion pages of The Kamloops Daily News. His cartoons continue to be in big demand by daily newspapers throughout B.C. and elsewhere.

Today, he joins The Armchair Mayor News and we’re thrilled to have him.

The timing couldn’t be better. Raeside has just published a new book — The Best of Adrian Raeside — A Treasury of B.C. Cartoons. Including 230 of his best, the book is now in bookstores.

Born in 1957 in Dunedin, New Zealand, Raeside moved at the age of 15 with his parents to England, then on to Canada, where he worked at various jobs from loading grain ships in Thunder Bay, to surveying on the West Coast.

An editorial cartoonist for the Victoria Times Colonist for 35 years, Raeside’s editorial cartoons have appeared in more than 400 newspapers and magazines worldwide.

In 1988, Raeside began producing animated editorial cartoons for the CBC Journal, going on to create, direct and produce dozens of animated shows for Turner Broadcasting and Children’s Television Workshop — adapting Jim Henson Muppet characters for animation.

Raeside left the animation production business in 1992 but is still actively involved in projects, writing scripts for various animated series, including Atomic Betty, The Amazing Adrenalini Brothers and Kid vs. Kat.

Raeside is the author of 14 books. Among them are There Goes the Neighbourhood – An Irreverent History of Canada, The Demented Decade and 5 Twisted Years. He also wrote and illustrated the popular Dennis the Dragon series of children’s books, soon to be re-released.

Return to Antarctica, an account of his grandfather’s role in the famous 1910 race to the South Pole, was published by JW Wiley & Sons in 2009, along with a TV documentary based on his book.

No Sailing Waits and Other Ferry Tales- 30 years of Raeside BC Ferries Cartoons was published by Harbour Publishing in May 2012 and was on the B.C. Bestseller list for more than six weeks.

The Rainbow Bridge – A Visit to Pet Paradise, is also in bookstores. It’s a heartwarming tale of a boy and his dog and the special unbreakable bond between them. This is the book for anyone who has ever loved and lost a pet.

Tails Don’t Lie – A Decade of Dog Cartoons (70 in Dog Years) a collection of dog-related cartoons, was published by Harbour Publishing in the spring 2013 and spent more than six months on the B.C. Bestseller list.

Raeside, who claims to be “drunk pretty much most of the time,” lives in Whistler.