Allen Saunders

Allen Saunders (April 24, 1899 – January 28, 1986) was an American writer, journalist, and cartoonist best known for his long-running comic strips *Steve Roper and Mike Nomad*, *Mary Worth*, and *Kerry Drake*. Born John Allen Saunders in 1899, he began his career in journalism before transitioning into comics, where he became a prolific writer and occasional inker. His most famous creation, *Mary Worth*, a soap-opera style strip about a wise older woman, became a staple of American newspapers for decades. Saunders also originated the phrase "Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans" in 1957, later popularized by John Lennon. He collaborated with artists such as William Overgard and Ken Ernst, and his work appeared in titles like *Famous Funnies* and *Seriemagasinet*. His son, John Phillip Saunders, later continued *Mary Worth* and *Steve Roper* after his father’s death. Saunders’s influence on the comic strip medium, particularly in the dramatic serial genre, remains significant. He received no major awards noted in his career, but his strips were syndicated internationally, cementing his legacy as a key figure in mid-20th-century newspaper comics.