Like his cartoons, Francisco Flores Trinidad Jr. lived a colorful life here in the Philippines and in Hawaii.

Trinidad, also known as “Corky,” passed away last February 13 at the St. Francis Hospice in Hawaii due to complications from pancreatic cancer. 

The Honolulu’s Star-Bulletin report titled “Acclaimed Star-Bulletin cartoonist dies” and written by Burl Burlingame, stated that Trinidad’s nickname “Corky” was derived from his "favorite character in the comic strip ‘Gasoline Alley’”.

Working for the “fourth estate” was really in Corky’s blood. The 69-year-old cartoonist is the son of the late Lina Flor, the creator of “Gulong ng Palad”, and Francisco “Koko” Trinidad, acknowledged Father of Radio Broadcasting. His brother, Noel Trinidad, is a well-known actor in the Philippines.

Corky worked for the Star-Bulletin for four decades. He had been on leave for several months due to his ailment. His colleagues at work considered him as a treasure.

“Many people, everywhere, started their day by checking out Corky. Even people without Hawaii connections who didn’t understand some of his cartoons looked forward to them. When Corky went on leave, readers immediately began calling and e-mailing me from everywhere wanting to know, ‘Where’s Corky?’” said editor, Frank Bridgewater in the report.
 
In the same report, Trinidad’s editor Mary Poole was quoted as saying “Corky enchanted and infuriated more readers than anyone else in the newspaper’s history -- and they were often the same people. The politicians he skewered with his pen were often the first in line to acquire the original drawings, including most of the US presidents who have passed through the islands.”

“Every time a good story would break, I thought, ‘Oh, Corky will have fun with that.’ He gave us a gift every day, twice a day -- once in the news section and once on the editorial page,” Poole added.

According to the report, Corky became “the first Asian editorial cartoonist to be syndicated in the United States”. His cartoons appeared in publications such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Time, Newsweek, Punch of London, Paris Herald Tribune, Politiken in Sweden, Buenos Aires Herald, Philippines Daily Journal and Manila Chronicle.

A survivor of Japanese occupation during World War II, Trinidad earned his degree in journalism from the Ateneo de Manila University in 1960. A year later, he joined the Philippines Herald as a political cartoonist and columnist and “doubling as graphics director for all Herald publications.”

In the opinion page of the same newspaper dated February 14, the Star-Bulletin explained that Trinidad left the Philippines due to harassment he received from President Ferdinand Marcos.

“The Star-Bulletin became the rostrum from which he continued to lampoon the Philippine dictator,” it stated.

During the Vietnam War, Trinidad drew comic strip “Nguyen Charlie” for the Pacific Stars and Stripes. He also syndicated the comic strips “Zeus!” and “Aloha Eden,” both reflecting his interest in ancient mythology. Aside from his work, Trinidad also found the time to teach cartooning at the University of Hawaii.
 
His passion for work earned him several awards including a Ten Outstanding Young Men award for journalism in 1965; a UCLA Foreign Journalism Award in 1967; the top award twice for editorial cartooning in the Salon Des Humour competition in Montreal, Canada; the ACLU Allan Saunders Award in 1982; Freedom Foundation Thomas Jefferson medal in 1980, and the Fletcher Knebel journalism prize in 1998.

The report added that he was also inducted into the Society of Professional Journalists’ Hawaii Journalism Hall of Fame.

“Trinidad’s citation noted that he fought pen-and-ink battles ‘against the wars in Vietnam in the 1960s and in Iraq today, for civil rights, for justice for all, for compassion for the poor, the homeless, Palestinians, for the disenfranchised, for blacks, for Filipinos, for Hawaiians, in defense of the environment, for a cleaner society, physically and ethically,” said the report.

Meanwhile, a mass will be held for Trinidad at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at the Newman Center, 1941 East-West Road, on the University of Hawaii Campus.

Trinidad is survived by his wife, Hana; sons Lorenzo and Emmanuel; daughters Pia Sprague, Lara Nishimura and Anela Trinidad; and grandchildren, Kera Nishimura and Matty Sprague.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to St. Francis Hospice or the Newman Center. -- by MA. ALETA O. NIEVA, abs-cbnNEWS.com