Lew Sayre Schwartz

Lew Sayre Schwartz, 84, of Peterborough, NH passed away Saturday, June 18, 2011 after complications from a recent injury. He was husband to Barbara Schwartz and they would have celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary this November. He was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1926. After graduating from New Bedford High School, he moved to New York City to study at the Art Students League. Lew served in the Navy as an aerial gunner, radar operator and PR journalist during World War II and the Korean conflict. After being married in New Bedford, MA, Lew and Barbara moved to Wilton, CT where they raised their family. They moved to Cape Cod in 1973, to a home on the water where Lew enjoyed fishing and boating for many years. In 1947, Lew went to work for Bob Kane, creator of Batman, becoming Kane’s personal “ghost” artist until mid-1953, while also working on staff for King Feature’s Syndicate. In 1955, he joined the J. Walter Thompson agency in New York City, launching a career as a writer, producer and director for film and television that would last for more than forty years. In 1961 he co-founded the film production company Ferro, Mogubgub and Schwartz, which went on to win many national and international awards for creative filmmaking, including six Clio’s and four Emmys. Lew was honored in 2002 with the prestigious Inkpot Award at the Comic-Con International in San Diego for his work on the Golden Age Batman comics. He was also one of the three remaining Golden Age Batman artists to be honored at Comic-Con July 2009. His family will remember him for his passion for art, food, books, gardening, and politics. He is survived by his wife Barbara, daughter Jill, three sons, Jed, Andrew and Nathaniel, along with four grandsons, four granddaughters, and two great granddaughters. Funeral services are private. Donations can be made in his name to the NH Association for the Blind, 25 Walker Street, Concord, NH 03301.