Cartoonist Sued by Vander Zalm
Victoria Times and Monday magazine editorial cartoonist Bob Bierman died as a result of a stroke April 16, according to a report by the Globe and Mail.
Born in Amsterdam, Bierman worked for a variety of Dutch publications before emigrating to Canada in 1950. He first worked as a bar doorman in Toronto before moving to British Columbia in 1954, eventually publishing his first cartoons with the Victoria Times. After the merger of the Times and the Victoria Colonist in 1976, Bierman published in the weekly alternative paper, Monday Magazine. Besides regular contributions to the annual Portfoolio collections of Canadian caricature, Bierman published one book, 1984: A Collection of Political Cartoons (New Star Books,1982).
Bierman is best known for a court case involving Bill Vander Zalm. The cartoonist drew a cartoon of then-Human Resources Minister Vander Zalm pulling the wings off flies and was sued for libel by the future B.C. premiere and amusement park owner (who was also a Dutch immigrant). A $3500 decision against Bierman and his publisher was later overturned by the B.C. Court of Appeal.
A collection of Bierman’s cartoons can be seen here.