Harrison Cady

American illustrator and author

Walter Harrison Cady (1877–1970) was an American illustrator and author, best known for his Peter Rabbit comic strip which he wrote and drew for 28 years.

Cady was born in Gardner, Massachusetts, to a town selectman, Edwin Cady, who ran a local general store. His father fostered a love of nature and encouraged his art skills. Cady entered an apprenticeship with a local painter, Parker Perkins. His first publication came as early as 1894: an illustration in a supplement to Harper's Young People (signed Walter H. Cady). Harrison was 18 when his father was killed in Boston. He moved to New York City and within a year found work as an illustrator with the Brooklyn Eagle newspaper. His salary of $10 a week made it possible for him to support his mother; the two lived in a Greenwich Village cold water flat. He stayed at the Brooklyn Eagle for four years, while also freelancing to other publications. Cady's first published comic strip was Jolly Jumpers, which ran from 1912 to 1914 via the Publishers Press syndicate. Cady was very prolific, illustrating over 70 years for such publications as St. Nicholas Magazine, Boys' Life, The Saturday Evening Post, Ladies' Home Journal, Good Housekeeping and Country Gentleman. He illustrated the Queen Silver Bell series by Frances Hodgson Burnett. In addition to his extensive illustrating of others' books, Cady also authored several books with his own illustrations, including his Butternut Hill series (1929), Johnny Funny Bunny's Picnic Party (1928) and Spring Moving Day (1928). When he retired in 1948, Vincent Fago took over the Peter Rabbit strip. Avon published Cady's Peter Rabbit Comics in 1947.

His work is on display at the Thornton W. Burgess Museum in Sandwich, Massachusetts.