Remembering David Boyd
David Boyd
There’s a David Boyd-shaped hole in Newnan. A Boyd void.
We’ve felt it everyday since he left us on September 20.
A little more than a month before what would have been his 84th birthday on October 31, David Boyd Sr. died at his home in Newnan. To imagine this town without him is difficult, but we doubt his presence will leave us anytime soon.
So much can be said about the man – and about his constant devotion to his family, his wicked-sharp humor, practical jokes, boyish charm and incurable kindness.
Boyd loved the fact that he was born on Halloween, so it seems fitting to speak of him as a presence that remains. Indeed, his presence is stamped all over this place. It remains in his art, in works he created over the past five decades, and in the friendships, the memories, and the light and love his family exudes. When he married Rosie, he married up, Boyd would say. Together, they raised three children, all artists whose passion rivals their dad’s.
Boyd’s political cartoons remain in the archives of some 200 newspapers that ran them four times a week for 48 years. Introduced in The Newnan Times-Herald in 1968, these cartoons took on the politically powerful in Georgia and beyond. Sometimes Boyd’s combination of words and caricature struck like a smack from a major league ball bat, but more often, the hit was subtle, like a friendly punch on the arm. Either way, the wit, wisdom and whimsicality of his cartoons entertained readers while serving as a mirror for politicians to see themselves in.
Even while cranking out cartoons, Boyd ventured onto other artistic avenues. The fruits of those labors remain in books published by comedian Jeff Foxworthy and columnist Lewis Grizzard. Boyd illustrated books for both and eventually created artwork for Foxworthy calendars, greeting cards and figurines that carried Boyd’s images to another national audience.
At home, Boyd’s presence remains strong everytime you walk into Sprayberry’s, where the rotund pink pig he created for them looms large on signage and T-shirts. The same is true at Redneck Gourmet, where his iconic redneck greets guests at the downtown Newnan restaurant where he held court for years. At his usual table across from the cash register, he’d greet friends and regale the crowd, always a cheerleader for the town that stole his heart.
A stroke he suffered in 2016 stilled him for a moment, but Boyd came back with a passion to paint and created caricatures of rock stars and local legends, signing them “Old Boyd.” His new art dazzled longtime fans and created new ones. His presence remains in the brush strokes of these pieces.
There’s one in particular that comes to mind. It’s a caricature of Keith Richards, the Rolling Stones guitarist known for his antics and agelessness. Old Boyd painted it before the pandemic, capturing the rock star’s Peter Pan-pirate charisma with Keith, cockeyed and sporting a crooked grin, merrily dancing on air.
Take away Keith’s bandana and cigarette, replace the guitar with a paintbrush and, voila, it’s the essence of David Boyd: Ageless with a mirth and merriment that lift him lighter than air, his mischievous grin reminding us he knows something we don’t, and wouldn’t we like to find out.
It seems fitting. Old Boyd was our rock star.
- Jackie Kennedy
