By Steve Benson
Legendary Arizona cartoonist Steve Benson suffered a stroke last month and is recovering in a Mesa rehabilitation hospital.
His wife told the Arizona Mirror the prognosis is positive.
“We’ve been assured there’s a good chance of full recovery,” Claire Benson said.
In a brief interview, she said that Steve suffered the stroke on Feb. 21 and received medical care quickly, including life-saving medication that “greatly increases the potential of a full, or near to full, recovery.”
In a post on Substack Monday, David Fitzsimmons, a longtime editorial cartoonist for the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson, wrote that his close friend would be getting around-the-clock care in the coming weeks as he begins his recovery.
Claire encouraged readers and friends to send well wishes to Steve on his Facebook page.
Benson was the Mirror’s editorial cartoonist from April 2019 through the end of 2023, when he retired from regularly publishing cartoons after more than 40 years skewering Arizona leaders. His archive of cartoons for the Mirror can still be viewed online.
Before that, Benson spent decades as the in-house cartoonist for the Arizona Republic, where he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1993. He was also a Pulitzer finalist in 1984, 1989, 1992 and 1994.
SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST.
The post Steve Benson, acclaimed AZ cartoonist, recovering from stroke appeared first on Arizona Mirror.