Patrick McDonnell

Patrick McDonnell was born on March 17, 1956. He is best known as the creator of *Mutts*, the daily comic strip following a dog and a cat that has been syndicated since 1994. Before *Mutts*, he worked as a magazine illustrator, often tucking a dog into the backgrounds of his drawings. His picture book *Me . . . Jane*, about the childhood of Jane Goodall, earned a Caldecott Honor in 2012 and was later adapted as a musical for the Kennedy Center stage, as was his book *The Gift of Nothing*. He co-authored *Krazy Kat: The Comic Art of George Herriman*, published in 1986. McDonnell’s work has been animated for television commercials, including a public service announcement for the NY Philharmonic. His *Mutts* characters have been used by the United States Marines, the American Library Association, and the Humane Society of the United States, and appear on New Jersey animal-friendly license plates that fund pet population programs. He has won the Harvey Award for Best Comic Strip eight times and received four National Cartoonists Society Awards.