John Gerald Christopher Ryan (4 March 1921 - 22 July 2009; Edinburgh, Scotland)
John Ryan was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. Aged 7, he wrote his first book 'Adventures of Tommy Brown' and sold it to his mother for two pennies.

John Ryan was a British animator and cartoonist. He was best known for his character Captain Pugwash.

After service in Burma he went to study at the Regent Street Polytechnic. Ryan created the character Captain Pugwash in 1950 for The Eagle. He was also the creator of 'Harris Tweed, Extra Special Agent', a would-be private eye, Lettice Leefe, the Greenest Girl in School (for Girl magazine 1951 - 1965), Mary, Mungo and Midge (1969) and Sir Prancelot (1972) but 'Captain Horation Pugwash' was his most endearing character.

Although famed as an animator and illustrator, John Ryan has also written and illustrated 20 books such as The Very Hungry Lions, Mamel and the Tower of Babel and Giantkiller.

Ryan made most of his livelihood visiting schools across the UK giving talks on Captain Pugwash; however following claims in the Sunday Correspondent and The Guardian of double entendres in the names of characters in the series, they no longer asked him to visit. This urban legend led to the Pugwash books going out of print. Subsequently he successfully sued the two papers.

Ryan, a Catholic (his brother was the theologican Columba Ryan), provided illustrations and cartoons for Catholic newspapers, including the Catholic Herald, and several collections of these cartoons were published as books, and featured the recurring character of Cardinal Grotti. Towards the end of his life, he was resident in Rye, East Sussex.

John Ryan died in hospital on 22 July 2009 in Rye, East Sussex. He is survived by his wife Priscilla and his three children. Isabel now runs his archive, organising exhibitions and talks.
Source: Wikipedia