Warrenton, Va — Robert Theodore Stearn, 57, of Warrenton, Virginia passed away on Feb. 1st, 2019. He was born August 9th, 1961 in Weymouth, MA to Robert and Betty Stearn.
A gifted draftsman with a playful and unsettling imagination, Ted Stone credited his high school art teacher, Mr. Falcone, with nurturing a serious grounding in the arts. He received a BFA in Painting from Rhode Island School of Design in 1983, and in 1992 added an MFA from the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. After graduating from RISD he worked for several years as a graphic designer and art director in New York while pursuing his paintings and kinetic sculptures.
In addition to being a talented artist he was a loving, inspirational father to his two cherished daughters, of whom he was exceedingly proud. He is survived by his mother Betty, his life partner Sharon, his daughters Mia and Alice, his sister Jeanne and her husband Pete, and his brother Doug and his wife Andrea.
In 1992 he began making comics, including a haunting series of strips called “The Forgotten Dream of a Melancholy Chef,” and his best-known work, the Fuzz and Pluck stories. Starting in the mid-1990s, he worked as a storyboard artist and sometimes a director on many animated TV series, including “Beavis & Butthead,” “Daria,” “King of the Hill,” “Drawn Together,” “Squirrel Boy,” “Futurama,” and “Rick and Morty,” as well as on “The Simpsons Movie.” From 2001-2004 he taught in the Sequential Arts Department at the Savannah College of Art and Design. As an educator, he also participated in presentations about teaching comics. After Savannah he lived the rest of his life in Los Angeles. Ted’s work was nominated twice for the prestigious Ignatz Award. The second Fuzz and Pluck book, “Splitsville,” an exquisitely drawn, comically violent allegory of freelancing, was released in 2009. This and the first book were published in French translation in 2013, and the following year they received the “Prix de Séries” award at the Festival International de la Bande Dessinée in Angoulême.
Ted’s life will be honored at his sister’s church with prayers and songs. He will be celebrated with a Pop-Up art show in New York City in the summer of 2019.
