“Golfer of the Year” (February 8, 1971)
by Charles Phillip Bissell (1926 -)
11 x 16, metal printing plate and photo-negative
Coppola Collection

In 1960, Boston Globe cartoonist Phil Bissell, working for $25 a day, was handed an assignment that would change his life—and the lives of fans of the brand-new AFL football team coming to Boston. “Sports editor Jerry Nason came to me and he said, ‘They’ve decided to call the team the Boston Patriots. You better have a cartoon ready for tomorrow’s edition.’” Bissel’s “Pat Patriot” cartoon was the Patriot’s logo from 1961-1992.

Alan B Shepard, Jr., was one of the group of seven Mercury astronauts, and the first American (and second person) in space, making a sub-orbital flight on May 5, 1961.

He was grounded for years because of inner ear issues, but was returned to active status on May 7, 1969, after a successful operation.

He made his second flight into space as commander of the Apollo 14 mission (January 31 to February 9. 1971), following the ill-fated Apollo 13.

While on the Moon, Shepard used a Wilson six-iron head attached to a lunar sample scoop handle to drive golf balls. Despite thick gloves and a stiff spacesuit, which forced him to swing the club with one hand, Shepard struck two golf balls, driving the second, as he jokingly put it, “miles and miles and miles.”

Shepard was born and raised in Derry, NH (my own hometown), which became known as “Spacetown” in honor of its native son. The sports teams of the local semi-private high school (and one of America’s oldest), Pinkerton Academy, are known as the Astros.

I do not have the original pen and ink art. The main image here is the photoshop-inverted image of the negative, which was used to create the metal plate used to print the cartoon (see additional images).