Sam Gross

Sam Gross (August 7, 1933 – May 6, 2023) was an American cartoonist, specializing in single-panel cartoons. He contributed to an array of publications, including The New Yorker.

History
Born in The Bronx, New York City, Gross was the son of Max and Sophie, who were Jewish immigrants to America. His mother was born in Iași, Romania and his father was born in Lithuania. His parents came to the United States as children around 1905. Gross said his mother's side of the family is artistic. His father was a CPA.

Gross attended DeWitt Clinton High School, which at the time was an all-boys school. After he graduated, Gross went to City College. He started as a business major, then he wanted to be an accounting major, and finally an advertising major. Gross ended up taking a lot of art and history courses.

Sam Gross began cartooning in 1962 and has continued ever since. His cartoons have appeared in numerous magazines, including Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Harvard Business Review and The New Yorker.

Gross was cartoon editor for National Lampoon and Parents Magazine. Gross also became involved in electronic publishing ventures with cartoons playing an important role.

Gross died on May 6, 2023, at the age of 89.

Work habits
Every Wednesday Gross sat down to draw and, what he called, "trip". He claimed that he did not draw for magazines or newspapers, he just drew. Gross averaged 16–17 drawings a week, and numbered and dated every one. Once finished, he photocopied the drawings on forty-four-pound stock paper, then punched three holes and put them into loose-leaf books; Gross was afraid of losing his original copy and idea. In 2012, Sam Gross had a total of about 27,592 cartoons.

Comic strips
Gross created the comic strip Cigarman.

Collections
Published collections of cartoons by Sam Gross include:
 * How Gross! : The Collected Craziness of S. Gross (1973)
 * I Am Blind and My Dog Is Dead (1978)
 * An Elephant Is Soft and Mushy (1982)
 * More Gross (1982)
 * Totally Gross (1984)
 * Love Me, Love My Teddy Bear (1986)
 * No More Mr. Nice Guy (1987)
 * Your Mother Is a Remarkable Woman (1992)
 * Catss by Gross (1995)
 * We Have Ways of Making You Laugh: 120 Funny Swastika Cartoons (2008)