August Edward Moritz was born November 8, 1903 in Lithuania. His father, August Moritz, was born in 1872 in Lithuania. His mother, Wilhelmina (Kausch) Moritz, was born in 1866 in Lithuania. At the time of their marriage in 1898, the mother already had two children from her previous marriage. They were Frederick Kausch (b.1893) and Gustave Kausch (b.1898). Mr. and Mrs. Moritz had three children, Bertha (b.1899), Emma (b.1901), and August Edward Moritz (b.1903).
In 1905 the parents and their three children, plus the two step-sons all left Lithuania and moved to the USA, where they settled in New Jersey. They lived at 67 Bergen Avenue in Jersey City. The father worked as an unskilled laborer. The eldest step-son Frederick Kausch was age sixteen when he was the first family member to apply for U.S. citizenship as a "naturalized alien."
By 1920 the family had moved to 581 Ocean Avenue in Jersey City, NJ.
In 1930 Edaward Moritz was listed as an art student, although the name of the school is unknown.
In 1937 Edward Moritz sold several freelance cover paintngs to Street & Smith, which published them on Wild West Weekly and Western Story.
In 1938 he sold several pulp magazine covers to Louis Silberkleit's Columbia Publications, which published them on Double Action Detective and Double Action Gang.
The 1940 U.S. Census listed the family at 18 21st Street in West New York, NJ. This is a riverfront community on the Hudson River, with a ferry terminal for thousands of daily commuters who worked in New York City.
In 1940 Edward Moritz rented an art studio in New York City at 44 West 63rd Street in Manhattan.
In 1941 Edward Moritz married Wanda Lajeski in Passaic, New Jersey, of Polish ancestry. She was born November 15, 1909. They moved to 131 Center Street in Clifton, NJ. They had no children.
On February 16, 1942, during World War Two, Edward Moritz registered with the selective service. He was recorded to have been 5-five-six, 160 pounds, with brown eyes, brown hair, and a light complexion.
In the 1940s he drew comic books for ACG, Better, Charlton, and MLJ.
He married Wanda Lajeskie. She was born in 1910 in Passaic, NJ.
In the 1950s he drew comic books for Gilberton, Story Comics, Toby Press, and Trojan Comics.
He painted covers for many paperbacks and he also illustrated digest-sized magazines such as Mike Shayne and Fantastic Universe.
He also illustrated men's adventure magazines such as Escape to Adventure and SIR!
In the 1960s he illustrated the "Tom Swift Junior" young-adult book series for Grosset & Dunlap.
Edward Moritz died of a heart attack at the age of seventy-one on June 12, 1975.
© David Saunders 2024 |
