David Heisch is a professional doodler for some 30 years. Born in Blighty, (England to most) he spent the first 5 years of his life in Amman, Jordan, where he frequently banged his head on a marble table-top as he and his brother Gordon raced their pedal bike and car around the garden. These frequent small concussions had a profound effect on David’s life. “I think I pretty much knocked out the left side of my brain…it certainly hasn’t played an active part in my life so far; let’s put it that way. Gordon usually remembered to duck and he went on to be a successful builder of high-end homes in and around Vancouver. One can only wonder.”

In 1956 the family moved to New Zealand to indulge Lt. Colonel (Royal Scots Fusiliers) J. K. Heisch’s romantic vision of himself as a dairy farmer. It was during these formative years near Dargaville that David developed a fondness for warming his feet in fresh cow-pats on a cool Winter’s evening. “I learned that if I hurried the cows along a bit, one or two of them would extrude manure, which, if trampled in immediately was very warm”. He has only recently been able to break the habit. “Becoming an urban-dweller has helped enormously”.

During his early teens, David and his family moved to Auckland where he attended King’s College. “My brother and I cycled to Newmarket Station every morning to catch a steam locomotive to school. The train ran an olefactory gauntlet through the Westfield Abbatoir. We’d snatch off our caps and cover our noses…the stench was awful.” Despite the very best efforts of the College, David emerged from his 4 years there with his love of art intact and spent his final High School year at Westlake Boys on the North Shore of Auckland,which involved a 6 mile commute over the Harbour Bridge on his first motorcycle, a Triumph “Twenty One”, 350 twin. Many more would follow; motorcycles that is. “The Art Department at Westlake was excellent. For the first time I realised that I could pursue a career as an artist…this was a viable way of making a living.”

From Westlake David went on to a 2 year Graphic Arts Course and then out into “the real world”. “Lately, I like to think of myself as a desk-bound comic…a sit-down comedian. If one of my cartoons elicits a smile, or even better, a laugh; I love that”.

Some folk may find it disturbing to learn that the inspiration for David’s cartoons comes from everyday experiences. David lives in East Aurora, NY, with wife Sandy, daughter Angela and son George.