Imagination Frees:

Spotlight on Morrie Turner

Imagination creates the image,
But the image is what inspires--
Reaches out to visitors
Captures their attention,
Whisks them away
    into the depths of the creator's mind--
Here they can be swept up
Drawn into a dream of a perfect world
And visualize the possibilities.
The images don't fade;
But burn into the brain
Leaving smoke trails back to perfection,
A memory embedded in the visitor's soul
Ready to be visited,
     ready to be realized
           ready to come true.

Morrie Turner

Who was Morrie Turner?

Morrie Turner was the cartoonist the introduced black characters to comic strips. In1965, he created Wee Pals, a strip he designed to portray a world of equality and devoid of prejudice. Only 5 newspapers would run the comic. After the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., over 100 papers picked up the comic. In 2000 Turner was awarded the prestigious "Sparky Award" [1]. Eventually his comic went on to become the first syndicated comic with integrated characters. Turner passed away in January of this year (2014) [2].

References

1. "About Wee Pals". Creators; visited February 2014
2. Michael Cavna. "RIP, MORRIE TURNER: Cartoonists say farewell to a friend, a hero, a ‘Wee Pals’ pioneer". Washington Post. January 31, 2014