Practicing People Skills on Ballard Street: The Comic Art of Jerry Van Amerongen

From 1980 to 1990 THE NEIGHBORHOOD graced the comic pages of newspapers across the country. Along with Gary Larson’s THE FAR SIDE, it redefined the single panel gag cartoon with short bursts of sophisticated and surreal humor. Van Amerongen introduced BALLARD STREET in 1991 . . . a rich continuation of his singular humor.

Jerry Van Amerongen’s cartoons have been in continuous syndication for over 26 years. Countless greeting cards, calendars, many other licensed products, and now the Internet have created a large and loyal following over the years.

Jerry was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He spent the first 17 years of his professional life in corporate sales, marketing, and product management, coming to cartooning at age 40. Van Amerongen’s boyhood memories were shaped by the ethnic influences of his Dutch and Polish heritage, images of roly-poly women in large print dresses and rotund men in baggy trousers.