Video: Don Musick Interview

Don Musick (1920 - 2004), was the principal at Concordia High School in Kansas. He was also a cartoonist, known for his "Musings with Musick" series.

Cartooning opened doors for him. When he was just thirteen years old, he entered and won the Kansas Women’s Christian Temperance Union state poster contest. His mother, who was an active member of the Union, was very proud.

When he was eighteen, Bethany College in Lindsborg, KS offered him a scholarship based on his cartooning skills. His daughter Deb Wilhm takes up the story:

"While at college, he played on the varsity football team— the irony of the situation being that because his hands could be injured playing football, he wasn’t allowed to major in art anymore and had to choose a different major.

"I was fairly indignant when he told this story to me many years later when I was in college, probably to make a point about college majors, although by now, I don’t recall exactly what.  'How could that have possibly been fair?' I complained.  But 'It was what it was,' as the saying sort of goes; and so Dad chose biology.

"It was during his senior year of college that Dad was drafted by the Detroit Lions football team.

"As it happened though, at nearly the exact same time, he was drafted by Uncle Sam’s team for service in World War II.  Uncle Sam pulled rank.  My dad’s contract with the Lions arrived in the mail three days after his induction into the Army."

He served in the medical corps as a surgical technician, and, returning home after the war, completed his schooling at Bethany and Emporia State. He

" ... then began a career in education as a teacher, football coach, and high school administrator.  He continued his drawing and painting, leaving bits of his artwork, in the form of school mascots painted in various high school gymnasiums across the state of Kansas.  Likewise, his cartoons were published in various hometown newspapers.  He had a regular cartoon feature that he called 'Musing with Musick,' although I always thought 'Messing with Musick' would have worked, as well."

His grandson posted this interview, and adds:

I couldn't find this on YouTube or via a Google search, so I'm doing so now.

This comes from a public access show called 'The Scene Tonight' that was filmed in (what I can only assume) the late 70's or early 80's.

Don Musick was my grandfather and was a pretty talented cartoonist/illustrator (and he was a darn good grandfather as well).

The first 10 or so minutes are a standard interview and the rest are some chalk cartoons.