PHS Jack Roquemore Artist

Former artist brought PHS football to life

9-7-2003
By WAYNE STEWART H-P News Editor

In an age of instant digital images and lifelike reproduction capabilities, the ability to capture a moment or feeling with a drawing is becoming a rare talent.

Fifty years ago though, the Herald-Press had its own artist and Palestine had a jewel few people today can remember.

Jack Roquemore, who died in 1979, used his talent of putting images on paper to capture the fun and excitement of Palestine High School football games.

Alex Kobar, who worked for the Herald-Press for 50 years in advertising had the pleasure of working with Roquemore during the '50s.

Kobar said Roquemore worked as a clerk at W.B. Flannigan's men's store during that time. Kobar, who worked alongside Herald-Press sports writer Walter Murray, kept stats for all PHS football games.

While Kobar tried to capture the numbers inherently produced by a football game, he said Roquemore could capture people's attention

"He got everything in there from the stats," Kobar said. "You knew what was going on."

Roquemore accomplished his artistic feats in just a short amount of time.

"I would take the stats for the game Friday night," Kobar recalled. "Then I would take them to him (Roquemore) Saturday morning after the game and he'd have them (illustrations) ready by Saturday night for Sunday morning's paper."

Roquemore usually provided two illustrations per week for the Herald-Press.

On Sunday's Roquemore would have his "game-o-gram" where all the major drives and action which took place during the game would be in the newspaper for the reader in the form of an illustration.

"He (Roquemore) did a good job of getting everything in there," Kobar continued. "If there were a bunch of (penalty) flags during the game, he'd get every one of them."

Later in the week, on Fridays, the Herald-Press would publish a cartoon by Roquemore forecasting the Wildcats game later that night with a touch of his own personal humor.

Despite the donation of his time and talents, Kobar said Roquemore never received money, nor would he have taken money for his illustrations.

"It was a different time back then," Kobar remembered. "We did it because we loved it."

No matter what the occasion for one of his cartoons though, Kobar said one thing was unmistakable, "He was an artist; I guarantee you."