Gerald Glynn "Dirk" West (October 23, 1928 – July 26, 1996) was an editorial cartoonist, journalist, and mayor from Lubbock, Texas, most famous for his caricatures of collegiate mascots. He was born in Littlefield, Texas, but his family moved to Lubbock soon after. He attended Texas Tech University where he drew cartoons for The University Daily student newspaper.
Mascot cartoons
West's most famous works featured caricatures of the sports mascots of various universities, mostly those of the Southwest Conference (and later the Big 12 Conference), but other schools appeared as well, usually because they were playing Texas Tech. His cartoons appeared in program books, on posters, and in magazines.
Two of his characters would eventually be officially adopted by their respective universities: Texas Tech's Raider Red and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln's Herbie Husker.
West drew a semi-weekly one-panel comic in the Avalanche-Journals sports section where he would lampoon college mascots and coaches alike, as well as the stereotypes of various universities. Thus there was the dim-witted Texas A&M Aggie, the devout but overemotional Baylor Bear, the arrogant University of Texas at Austin Longhorn and of course Raider Red, whose bullet-riddled Stetson showed by the number of holes the number of game losses for Texas Tech so far that season.
West would alter the image of his characters over the course of a sports season. A winning team's mascot would gradually get larger and tougher, the fans of losing teams would find their mascots growing thinner as the weeks went by.
Politics
After serving several years on the local Parks and Recreation Board and the city council, West was elected mayor of Lubbock in 1978,