Tom Wilson, Sr. the cartoonist responsible for lovable bald and empathic character Ziggy died September 16 at the age of 80 from pneumonia. Wilson created Ziggy for American Greetings’ Sunbeam Library line of humorous books, where he debuted in When You’re Not Around. The book sold a half-million copies and the character was later serialized in newspapers when the wife of a Universal Press Syndicate founder discovered the book and sent it to her husband. Ziggy is now published in over 500 newspapers and generates millions of dollars in merchandise. “As the abstracted everyman, Ziggy is all about the universality of the beleaguered moment, whether the comic obstacle on that day is an appliance or a pet or another person or even just one’s own admitted ineptitude.” Wilson handed the reins of the comic to his son in 1987 and prior to his death was residing in a nursing home. Ziggy was animated in the 1982 Emmy-Award winning Christmas special Ziggy’s Gift.