Shaker Library Celebrates Animation with Martin Gitlin

Endless hours of Saturday morning cartoon-watching paid off for Marty Gitlin, who used his wonderful memories and passion for cartoons to co-author his book, A Celebration of Animation: The 100 Greatest Cartoon Characters in Television History. Shaker Library invites you to meet this award-winning author and pop culture historian at 2 pm Saturday, July 31 via Zoom.

Gitlin's book explores the best-of-the-best cartoon characters from the 1920s to the 21st century. He casts a wide net of characters ranging from silly to malevolent. And all the great characters in his book are sure to trigger nostalgic memories of carefree Saturday mornings or after-school hours with family and friends in front of the TV set.

The program will feature cartoon snippets from the past century. Gitlin ranked the "greatest cartoon characters ever," and he will talk about the criteria he used to rank them and their impact on American pop culture.

Find out if your cartoon favorites rank as high as the author's and play trivia with other participants. This program is guaranteed fun for every age. Register here for an entertaining afternoon. Yabba Dabba Doo!

About the Author: Martin Gitlin is a Cleveland freelance writer and journalist. He has written several history books for students, including works on the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case, Battle of The Little Bighorn, and Stock Market Crash of 1929. He has written biographies of NASCAR drivers Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. Gitlin worked for two decades as a sportswriter and received more than 45 awards, including first place for general excellence from the Associated Press. The AP also selected him as one of the top four feature writers in Ohio.