Henry was created by Carl Anderson in 1932. John Liney was Carl Anderson's assistant on the 'Henry' newspaper strip from 1936. After Anderson's death in 1948, Liney continued the daily strip on his own until 1979. When I was 10 John Liney visited our elementary school, Country Club Elementary School in Willingboro, NJ and held an art contest. I was with my Dad and they had two categories for the art contest, adults and children. My Dad mistakenly put his entry into the children's pile and won first prize, while my entry won 2nd prize. When his entry was announced as the children's category first prize and called to the front to receive a drawing from John Liney, my Dad stood up and walked up proudly, oblivious to the laughter of everyone who could see the mistake. John Liney commented he looked a little big to be a fifth grader. At that point my Dad realized the mistake and my entry was promoted to first prize and I received this original drawing of Henry.
When John Liney was drawing the Henry comic strip he would appear at schools and clubs across the country giving away original drawings of Henry. He gave away a lot of this same drawing which shows Henry off to fish. You can also find these on Ebay. But with mine - he personally gave it to me. John Liney died in 1982. I feel lucky to have received this and I have proudly owned it ever since.
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