Scott Brown

Scott Brown: Cartoonist is a delightful book full of humor and history.  Brown’s story is an inspiring example of how art doesn’t just exist in galleries and museums but can be a part of anyone’s life and self-expression.  The book traces several generations of early Ohio families as the Midwest was being transformed by political, economic, and technological changes.  This was the environment that shaped Scott Brown, a nationally recognized cartoonist who drew inspiration for his art from ordinary people and everyday life.  Author Christopher Kuntz, Brown’s grandson, draws on his personal recollections as well as extensive historical research.  The book is lovingly illustrated with over 100 figures, including both historical photos and the cartoonist’s own drawings, paintings, and linocuts.  You’re certain to enjoy this charming book and recommend it to your friends.

Paul McKee

Well . . . having just put the book down, I would be thinking about heading for Mansfield, Ohio the next chance I got to spend an hour or so a day, for a month or so, at Scott Brown’s Soda Shop, had we not lost Scott forty years ago. I would have been full of questions without answers.

Wherefrom springs that capacity to envision and record, in many media, images so pleasing, and why do they please, and how is it possible at ten years old?

Why have I long thought the people in the Midwest have an unusually confident congeniality, still more so now with this new model of winsome mid-western charm?

And humor, what good is it, why should it please? Have I seen an eye twinkle? Then how can it be so easy to recognize?

Chocolate soda? I have never had a chocolate soda. Would that my first could have been one of the “Best Chocolate Sodas on Route 30 (including all of the detours)”.

The happy humorist and artist working after work on his paintings and storyboards, many destined for an ephemeral post in the Soda Shop window. I suppose he was pleased to be recognized by The Saturday Evening Post and Colliers, but was there any stopping this one whose creating and breathing were similarly instinctive?

I haven’t had a Scott Brown in my life . . . until now.

Brian McKillop

Chris Kuntz loving biography of his grandfather was a joy to read.

The biography combines the history of his family’s journey to Ohio in the late 1800s, the story of Scott Brown’s life, and many of his wonderful cartoons and drawings. The writing draws you into the story of the family’s journey to the woods of Ohio in the 1800s.

The picture painted of the family’s early life on the frontier in Ohio is engaging, introducing you to the trials of frontier life and the quirks that made these individuals interesting and helped them to survive. You are introduced to Scott Brown, a boy who had a passion for drawing and was a keen observer of human nature. His drawings are woven into the story and illustrate the life of the town and place that he lived. Running a Soda shop in Mansfield gave Scott Brown a front row seat to life in small town America. He used this vantage point to document the everyday occurrences that define a moment in time in mid twentieth century America. It is a wonderful, well-written story with a collection of drawings. I highly recommend Scott Brown: cartoonist.

Martha Spieker

Chris Kuntz has assembled a delightful collection of cartoons which are representative of both the times and his beloved grandfather. And by dint of his meticulous review of original historical materials, he has also provided some shrewd insights into the early history of frontier Ohio, illuminating why north-central Ohio developed the way it did. Whether your interest is early Ohio history or Scott Brown’s oeuvre, you will find this an engaging book

Robert Brown

In the portrait of his grandfather Scott Brown, Chris Kuntz delightfully mingles Ohio history with art and cartoons created by Brown which appeared in the local newspaper and national magazines. We recommend making a chocolate soda, another creation of Scott’s, to sip as you read and enjoy this book.

The author portrays lines of emigrants and pioneers who come to this country and forge new lives at the frontier of America, building families, homes, and communities. He focuses on his grandfather, Scott Brown, who becomes a prominent citizen of his community, making a living by running a drug store with a soda fountain, renowned for his chocolate sodas. His true passion was art, which he created prolifically after hours, and examples of his paintings , drawings, and cartoons are beautifully displayed in the book. It also contains observations and reminiscences by his daughter Barbara, our friend, herself a prize-winning poet.

We would heartily recommend this book.

Tom and Nancy Fiene