Carlson Library recently opened a new student space on the third floor dedicated to Pete Hoffman, a UToledo alumnus and nationally syndicated cartoonist.
The room is decorated with a large mural, and four informational placards highlighting the work and life of Hoffman, best known as creator of “Jeff Cobb,” a comic strip about a handsome investigative reporter for the fictional Daily Guardian newspaper. Hoffman not only illustrated the strip, but he researched and wrote each one, which were based loosely on real crimes.
Riley DeMeo, left, a sophomore studying social work, and Paulo Nadal, a sophomore studying computer science and engineering, study in Carlson Library’s recently opened student space on the third floor dedicated to Pete Hoffman, a UToledo alumnus and nationally syndicated cartoonist.
Hoffman wrote, researched and illustrated “Jeff Cobb” for more than 20 years. The strip ended its national run in 1975 and its international run in 1978.
A Toledo native, Hoffman received a bachelor’s degree in advertising and marketing in 1941 at The University of Toledo, and served as art editor for the University’s yearbook and staff cartoonist for The Campus Collegian newspaper from 1937 to 1941.
After his death in 2013, Hoffman’s niece, Sharyanne Kollin, and his nephew, Paul Hoffman, donated the bulk of his life’s work to the family to the Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections at The University of Toledo.
The collection consists of nearly 5,000 drawings by Hoffman and documents more than 20 years of his work.
“Considering Pete’s fondness for The University of Toledo, he would certainly be very pleased knowing that his creative work was being cared for by the Canaday Center,” Hoffman and Kollin said at the time.
To learn more about Hoffman, read the UToledo News story from December 2014 announcing the donated collection.
Pete Hoffman drew this self-portrait for the cover of a 1994 issue of the UToledo Alumni Magazine.
