Ralph Stein

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Ralph Stein (November 13, 1909 – November 27, 1994) was an American writer, cartoonist and illustrator. He was born in New York City to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents; his father was a tailor and his younger brother Arthur later became a magazine promoter. He married Muriel and had three children: David, Jon, and Betsy.

Stein started as a photographer and illustrator for The World-Telegram. During World War II he served as the staff cartoon editor for Yank, the U.S. Army magazine. He co-authored It’s a Cinch, Private Finch, a humorous book about Army life, with Harry Brown, and many Yank cartoons were collected in What Am I Laughing At?.

In May 1950, his fifteen Travelers Safety Service single-panel cartoons titled “Maim Street” began appearing in newspapers and were reprinted until 1961. From 1953 to 1959 he helped draw and write the Popeye comic strip and illustrated Here’s How for King Features. His first daily Popeye strip appeared December 6, 1954, and his last was August 1959. His stories took Popeye around the world; he brought Bluto back to the daily strip in 1957 and later created Bluto’s beard-less twin, Burlo.

Stein wrote several books about cars, including Sports Cars of the World (1952), Treasury of the Automobile (1961), The Great Cars (1967) and The American Automobile (1978). He also wrote The Pinup From 1852 to Now and The Great Inventions.

Stein died November 27, 1994, in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, after a long illness, at age 85.