Margaret Ahern

Margaret McCrohan Ahern was an American cartoonist and illustrator. She was educated at Providence High School, the Harrison Art School, and the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. Ahern worked for the Roman [Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago|Chicago Archdiocese's] New World newspaper, as well as the 1950s WGN television show, Cartuno. She drew the monthly strips, Beano, from 1948 to 1999, and Angelo, from 1951 to 1954 for The Waifs' Messenger, but is best known as the cartoonist who took over Tut LeBlanc's An [Altar Boy Named Speck], which was syndicated by the National Catholic News Service, following LeBlanc's 1953 death until 1979. Ahern's work on Speck was featured in books published separately as: Speck, the Altar Boy, Presenting Speck, the Altar Boy, and A Speck of Trouble; New Escapades of the Inimitable and Irresistible Speck, the Altar Boy. Under the pseudonym Margarita, Ahern was also the creator of the comic strip Little Reggie and, under the pseudonym Peg O'Connell, Our Parish, which was syndicated and then collected in Our Parish. She died in 1999.