Robert Sutton Myers was a successful sports artist and caricaturist whose work was seen by millions on television and published in newspapers and magazines worldwide. He was also a good friend for more than a half-century. Bob died peacefully at his home in Santa Monica, Calif., on Nov. 13 after a yearlong battle with brain cancer. He was 60.
Known for his watercolor portraits showing baseball stars -- primarily from the 1950s, '60s and '70s -- as they looked in their baseball cards at the time, Bob was the artist in residence for the Fox Major League Baseball Game of the Week. The originals of his paintings were purchased by many executives and sports industry figures, including Mickey Mantle, Bob Costas and Brandon Tartikoff.
His caricatures of political figures, world leaders and other people in the news were syndicated to hundreds of newspapers around the world by the North America Syndicate division of King Features. His caricatures were brilliant, so it was no surprise to see a recent photo of President Barack Obama admiring his drawings of current and past presidents, including Kennedy, Nixon and Obama.
When I worked at the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, Bob was the art director. He also worked in the art department of the old Los Angeles Herald Examiner and the Daily News of Los Angeles.
Born in Oakland, Calif., on Sept. 19, 1950, Bob was raised in Winnetka, Ill., a Chicago suburb. Bob and I first met when his mom and mine would take turns carpooling us to preschool at Crow Island School. We then went to Saints Faith, Hope and Charity for kindergarten through eighth grade, followed by New Trier High School. I struggled in high school and moved around, but Bob's trajectory was straight to the top. In his senior year, he was president of the student body and captain of the football and track teams. He was a phenomenal athlete with incredible running speed.
Bob studied at Tulane University, where he played football and worked his way up from fifth string, because of his small size, to playing in games regularly because of his natural speed and athleticism and, of course, because of his utter determination. He dropped out of Tulane at the height of the hippie movement and lived first in San Francisco and then in Laguna Beach, Calif. He continued his studies later at California College of the Arts and Otis College of Art and Design.
In 1978, he moved to Santa Monica, the same year I moved to Santa Monica, and we became friends all over again, not having seen each other for a decade. One of the biggest bonds between us was our love of working out, though Bob was primarily a runner and I was a weightlifter. But he got me to join in a few 10k races and even one LA Marathon, and I got him to work out at the old World Gym and Gold's Gym in Santa Monica.
When he was lying in bed a few weeks ago, dying, I reminded him of something he once said about the difference between the two workouts that has always stayed with me because it is so profound. "When I run, all my problems float away," he said. "When I lift weights, I feel like I can kick down the door and conquer any problems."
Brant Parker, the late artist for the "Wizard of Id" comic strip (now drawn by his son Jeff), was in my office at Creators Syndicate 20 years ago, and I showed him Bob's painting of Ernie Banks. He was blown away.
"What is so remarkable is that the painting shows such sharp contrasts and shading," said Brant, who was considered a fabulous artist himself. "Most people would need to use oil paints to create that effect. I just can't believe this was done with watercolor."
When she was first lady, Hillary Clinton wrote a column for Creators Syndicate from 1995 until 2000. One day, she visited our offices and stopped to stare at the Ernie Banks painting.
"I love Ernie Banks," she said. "And I love this painting. It is a masterpiece."
And Ernie Banks himself -- along with his wife, Margie -- was in our offices and equally impressed. "I've seen a lot of paintings," he said, referring to paintings of himself, "but this one is special."
Bob had many girlfriends over the years but never married. He is survived by three sisters and more than a dozen nieces, nephews and grandnieces spread across the country.
Tom Hodge, the son of Bob's eldest sister, Sally, flew from Denver to Los Angeles last month to care for his uncle. The tumor had made Bob difficult for anyone to be around because his mood swings were like his caricatures -- exaggerations of sweetness and anger. His sisters Marnie and Elizabeth also came to Los Angeles to comfort Bob at the time of his death.
Bob was at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center, and Tom met with a doctor there who said Bob had less than 30 days to live. I watched as Tom arranged for in-home hospice care for those days, and Bob quietly deteriorated with each passing day, until finally he was called to heaven. One of the last people to pay tribute was actor Bill Murray, who called him shortly before his death, because they were friends and because he was a fan of Bob's artwork.
Bob's body had become very frail, but his spirit was indomitable. His artwork lives on as a testament to his extraordinary talent, and I consider myself fortunate to have been his friend since we were 4 years old.
