Bud Grace

{{Infobox comics creator | image = Bud grace portrait.JPG | imagesize = | birth_date = c. 1944 | caption = Grace at the 2004 Gothenburg Book Fair | birth_place = Chester, Pennsylvania, U.S. | area = Writer, penciller, inker | alias = Buddy Valentine | notable works = ''Piranha Club'' }}

'''Bud Grace''' (born c. 1944)<ref name="Grace" /> is an American cartoonist, primarily known for the comic strip ''Ernie'', later retitled as ''Piranha Club'' in the United States. He also drew the ''Babs and Aldo'' comic strip for King under the pseudonym '''Buddy Valentine'''.

==Early life and education== Grace was born in Chester, Pennsylvania, grew up in Sarasota, Florida, and later resided for several years in Oakton, Virginia. He met his wife Lorraine while at Florida State University (FSU). They have a son, Allen. Grace has a Ph.D. in physics from FSU,<ref>[http://www.kingfeatures.com/features/comics/piranha/bioMaina.htm King Features Syndicate: Bud Grace bio] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061031140733/http://www.kingfeatures.com/features/comics/piranha/bioMaina.htm |date=October 31, 2006 }}</ref> and worked as a nuclear physicist at FSU before becoming a cartoonist in 1979.

==Career== Before establishing his career as a themed comic strip artist he published individual cartoons in magazines such as ''Playboy'' and ''Hustler'', as well as more conventional publications. ''Ernie'' was launched on February 1, 1988. Grace frequently appeared in his own comic strip, often ending up in a straitjacket. From Virginia, he traveled extensively on promotional tours in Europe, where his cartoons remain very popular as American newspapers saw declines or the total elimination of comics sections. He has been active in cartoon industry activities throughout his career. At one point, he was active in the establishment of the National Cartoon Museum when it moved to Boca Raton, Florida, in 1992. In 1996, it became the International Museum of Cartoon Art. It was the brainchild of Mort Walker, the creator of ''Beetle Bailey'' and had gone through several later transitions until its contents were relocated to Ohio State University in 2008.

In 1989, the Swedish Academy of Comic Art awarded Bud Grace the Adamson Statuette.<ref name="Grace">{{cite web |url=http://www.thecartoonists.ca/index_files/2002pages/4_october_2002_bud_grace.htm |title=Bud Grace, Creator of The Piranha Club |accessdate=December 12, 2007 |publisher=The Cartoonists |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071215184246/http://www.thecartoonists.ca/index_files/2002pages/4_october_2002_bud_grace.htm |archivedate=December 15, 2007 |url-status=usurped}}</ref> Grace received the National Cartoonist Society Newspaper Comic Strip Award for 1993 for his work on the strip.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.kingfeatures.com/features/comics/piranha/aboutMaina.php |title = About Piranha Club |accessdate = December 12, 2007 |publisher = King Features Syndicate |url-status = dead |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20071224032146/http://www.kingfeatures.com/features/comics/piranha/aboutMaina.php |archivedate = December 24, 2007}}</ref>

In early 2017, Grace and his wife decided they had no need to endure cold winters and he relocated to a new home in Bradenton, Florida, near his childhood home in Sarasota. He retired from cartooning in February 2018.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.budgrace.com |title=Buddy's Blog |website=www.budgrace.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jimkeefe.com/archives/9748 |title=Bud Grace Retiring – Piranha Club Comes to an End |author=Jim Keefe |author-link=Jim Keefe |date=February 5, 2018}}</ref>

Over the last 20 years, Grace has enjoyed singing blues style songs and appeared at piano bars in the Washington metropolitan area, and now is seeking new venues in the Tampa Bay area.

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == * [https://web.archive.org/web/20080409005240/http://www.reuben.org/ncs/awards2.asp NCS Awards] * Autobiography as a haiku at [http://www.reuben.org/ncs/members/biogs/grace.asp www.reuben.org/ncs/members/biogs/grace.asp]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grace, Bud}} Category:1944 births Category:American comic strip cartoonists Category:Florida State University alumni Category:20th-century American physicists Category:21st-century American physicists Category:American nuclear physicists Category:Living people Category:People from Chester, Pennsylvania Category:Artists from Delaware County, Pennsylvania Category:People from Oakton, Virginia Category:Scientists from Virginia