Reprinted with permission

Sketches by John A. "Tex" Carlton have illustrated events and faces of the 20th century in newspapers and on television stations around the globe. The 94-year-old former AP art director has brought to life events such as the 1932 kidnapping of the 20-month-old son of famed American aviator Charles Lindbergh and astronaut John Glenn when he became the first American to orbit the earth in 1962.

From memory after meeting historic figures or from photographs, Carlton has sketched World War II Gen. George Patton, Cuban communist leader Fidel Castro and President John F. Kennedy.

"When a picture wasn't available to go with a story, I had to make an illustration," Carlton said. "You couldn't always have people pose for a portrait, so you often had to draw from what you'd seen or from a photograph."

Carlton attended Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Fla., on an athletic scholarship and played in the first-ever Orange Bowl. He graduated in 1930. After college, he got a job making previews or "trailers" for programs at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, which apparently got the attention of AP. He started with the organization in 1932 and retired 38 years later. Several of his works are displayed at the Newseum in Arlington, Va., a museum dedicated to news media.

These days, instead of sketching world leaders or historic events, Carlton passes the time in a rustic house in the country near Hodges. SC. He decorated the nursery at Hodges United Methodist Church with watercolor paintings of animals and has done other works depicting New England landscapes and churches. He also makes birthday cards for friends which includes decorating the outside of the envelopes in which the cards are mailed. "Working at my drawing table helps me pass the time," Carlton says.

He attributes his longevity and artistic talent to years of travel and "drinking lots of water." Carlton, a widower with two sons and a daughter, lives with one of his sons, Ken, and daughter-in-law Donna. "Nothing gets him down," Donna said of her father-in-law. "He's always up." (2001)