Henry Takashi Shikuma- University of Hawaii

Henry Takashi Shikuma was born on April 23, 1922 in Honohina Gulch in Hawaii County, Hawaii to father Isazuchi Shikuma. He had siblings Richard and Atoru Shikuma, Teruaki Muraki, and Helen Yanagihara. They lived in Hilo, Hawaii. He began college at the University of Hawaii in 1940, but after the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, volunteered for the Hawaii Territorial Guard. That night, he stood watch over the Honolulu waterfront armed with an aging Springfield rifle and five rounds of ammunition. He was discharged from service in February 1942 because of his Japanese ancestry and for a short time, returned to his university studies. In 1949, Mr. Shikuma earned his bachelor of fine arts degree and moved to New York with his wife, Ellen, to continue art studies at Pratt Institute of New York. Henry and his wife then came back to Honolulu in 1959 and he then worked in the public relations section of the Honolulu Parks and Recreation Department, and they returned to in 1954 to New York City, where Mr. Shikuma launched his commercial art career with Alexander Stores. Four years later, he met and was hired by Walt Kelly, creator of the Pogo comic strip and within three years, Henry was Kelly's sole assistant, inking the Pogo strip as well as lettering and completing Kelly's backgrounds. He remained Kelly's assistant until the Walt Kelly's death in 1973. After Mr. Kelly's death in 1973, Mr. Shikuma continued the strip for two years, creating story ideas and story lines as well as drawing the daily comic strip.