Jerry Craft

Early life

Craft grew up in Washington Heights and attended the Ethical Culture Fieldston School. He graduated from the School of Visual Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in advertising.

Career

Craft worked for twelve years as a copywriter for various advertising agencies, during which time he also got his first comics work on projects for Marvel Comics and Harvey Comics. Moving on to King Features Syndicate, Craft spent eight years writing sales brochures. This connection with King Features led to the syndication of Craft's Mama's Boyz beginning in 1995.

Craft later worked as editorial director of the Sports Illustrated for Kids website, before leaving that job in October 2006 to become a full-time cartoonist.

Craft performs regular cartooning workshops at schools, camps, and libraries.

Mama's Boyz

Mama's Boyz follows the lives of African American single mother Pauline Porter and her two teenage sons Tyrell and Yusuf. Other characters include Pauline's brother Greg and their parents.

Mama's Boys is the outgrowth of a prior strip called The Outside View, which Craft first self-syndicated in 1987. In 1990, he adapted some elements of The Outside View to create Mama's Boyz, which he self-syndicated to New York's The City Sun and eventually a number of other weekly papers across the country. In 1995, Mama's Boyz was picked up for weekly syndication by King Features.

Mama's Boyz has been praised in Great Books for African American Children, and featured in Chicken Soup for the African American Soul, Chicken Soup for the African American Woman's Soul, and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Comedy Writing. The Mama's Boyz characters also act as official "spokescharacters" of the American Diabetes Association's African-American Program.

Personal life

Craft has two sons, Jaylen and Aren, who co-wrote the book The Offenders: Saving the World While Serving Detention! with their father. Craft lives in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Awards

• Glyph Awards, 2013 — Best Comic Strip or Webcomic
• American Diabetes Association Outstanding Supporter Award (2x)
• African American Literary Awards Show Open Book Awards, 2004 and 2009
• “Conversation Starter” award, 2007 — DC Campaign to Prevent Teenage Pregnancy
• National Cartoonists Society — nominated