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The
following is excepted from a 1998 interview in Bob's local newsaper,
the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Bob and his wife Paulette
live in St. Louis with their two sons, Ryan and Kevin. Bob grew
up in Torrance, California where her began his career by drawing
editorial cartoons for his high school newspaper.
"After
Staake won a statewide high school journalism contest with
an editorial cartoon about smoking on campus, 'things started
to happen,' he says. There was a People magazine article, for
instance, and offers of syndication from both King
and United
Features. Most important, however, was the relationship Staake
struck up with
Paul Conrad, the respected, Pulitzer
Prize-winning editorial cartoonist for the Los
Angeles Times.
And
when Staake's parents divorced in 1976 and college seemed an unaffordable
dream, Conrad agreed to speak at the University
of Southern California in exchange for a full scholarship
for Staake.
At
USC, Staake concentrated on interdisciplinary studies - history,
political science, journalism. Though he never took an art class
("cartooning is self-taught") he did turn out five political cartoons
a week for The
Daily Trojan there. In 1978, Staake also served as a Robert
F. Kennedy Memorial intern at the Student
Press Law Center in Washington.
Soon
afterward, Staake left USC
and moved to Hermosa
Beach. There he became assistant art director and editorial
cartoonist for an alternative weekly called Easy Reader.
He also began a fledgling free-lance business, contributing to
everything from Parents Magazine and The Atlantic, which published
his cartoon lithographs on beach culture, to major Hollywood film
studios, which used his work in movies like 'Protocol' and 'War
Games.'
In
1982, Staake met native St. Louisan Paulette Fehlig, who
was working as an ad salesperson at Easy Reader. The pair produced
a son, Ryan, in 1984. Shortly after they all left California for
St. Louis. 'When I came to St.
Louis, I made a conscious decision to work as an artist instead
of a political cartoonist,' says Staake. 'I had become disillusioned
with editors who wanted cartoonists to straddle fences instead
of upholding steadfast political beliefs.'
And
work he has. Staake has produced his signature humorous illustrations
- crowded with high-energy, angular characters drawn spontaneously
and placed deliberately in jigsaw-puzzle fashion - for a wide variety
of clients.
In
addition, his work has appeared on everything from Hallmark
greeting cards to television's 'The
Ren and Stimpy Show.' Another animated series, 'Cop
and Donut Show,' based entirely on Staake's drawings and character
designs, is set to debut soon on Nickelodeon."
Bob's web site is bobstaake.com.
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