Cartoonist Husband dies aged 73

The writer and artist Tony Husband, who created almost four decades’ worth of Private Eye cartoons as well as several books for Little Brown, has died. 

The 73-year-old had a heart attack on his way to a Private Eye leaving party on a Thames barge on Westminster Bridge on Wednesday (18th October), his son Paul wrote on Facebook.  

Husband also wrote and illustrated various books for the Little, Brown Book Group. A statement from the publisher said it “is deeply saddened to learn of the death of beloved author and illustrator Tony Husband, who died of a heart attack on Westminster Bridge”. 

The company added: “Tony was best known as a cartoonist, poking fun at both the domestic and the political, in newspapers, and in every single issue of Private Eye for an astonishing 38 years, where his ongoing ’Yobs’ strip was a firm favourite.” 

Husband was also one of the contributing editors of Oink! comic in the 1980s, and wrote for the children’s TV series "Round the Bend" from 1989 to 1991. 

The Blackpool-born artist published a number of collections of humorous cartoons in book form during his career, and Little, Brown’s association with him goes back to the 1980s, with books for Sphere including: Animal Husbandry; Use Your Head; Bye, Bye Cruel World; and The Kids Are All Right. 

In 2014, his book Take Care, Son for Robinson launched a new strand to his career and he became known as a spokesperson for dementia awareness, the publisher said.  

“The book told the tale of his father’s battle with vascular dementia and this deeply moving and relatable take on the disease led to Tony being invited to speak regularly to dementia charities and action groups, and he was always keen to contribute new artwork that could be used in fund-raising calendars, or to raise awareness in many other media,” Little, Brown said. 

His short tale about dementia, "Joe’s Journey", was adapted into a short film in 2021, starring Tony Robinson. Husband would revisit this area for United (Robinson) in 2022, which compiled a number of real-life stories about people living with dementia and their carers. 

Take Care, Son was followed by From a Dark Place (Robinson), which dealt with Paul’s recovery from heroin addiction, and was co-written with Paul, “and gave a unique perspective on being a loving parent in such an impossible situation". 

Husband also illustrated a number of other books for the Robinson list: Teenage Depression; Am I Depressed and What Can I Do About It?; After…; and United. “For the last two books, he insisted on only being credited as illustrator even though his artistic skill and ability to condense a bigger tale into pithy, visually impactful moments of emotion, was crucial to the writing of those books,” Little, Brown said. 

Robinson editorial director Andrew McAleer commented: “Tony was uniquely able to treat quite heavy subjects – dementia, depression, addiction, child abuse – with a light touch that made his books humorous and optimistic, making you laugh at the same time they made you cry.  

“I once had to awkwardly comfort a nurse who had flicked through Take Care, Son on a conference stand I was manning and subsequently burst into tears. The same book had the honour of being the first book we had ever been able to sell into Iceland stores (not a traditional bookselling route) because of the chairman’s desire to raise understanding of dementia through having the books by the checkouts. 

“Tony was one of the kindest, most compassionate and humbly talented people I’ve ever had the privilege of working with, and he was a delight to be around, both reasons I kept asking him to do more things for us.  

“He was able to bring out the best in humanity in his drawings and also rail against the cruelty he saw in the world with cutting political cartoons that highlighted bigotry, ignorance and inequality. He will be sorely missed.”