James Simpkins

In 2005, in celebration of Alberta's centennial, a Jasper the Bear coin was issued.

In 2004 vandals damaged a statue of Jasper the Bear which had been a local landmark for 40 years, but the statue was replaced and moved to a more secure location 160m due north of the Jasper Information Centre. The Mayor of Jasper was quoted as saying that vandalism is not unknown to the area, but until now, "not to poor ol' Jasper". Jasper continues as a promotional tool of Jasper tourism. Having one's picture taken with the statue of Jasper is still a must-have photo when visiting Jasper and, keeping up with the times, Jasper is even on Twitter.

Simpkins died on February 1, 2004, at the age of 93, in Dundas, Ontario. Canadian cartoonists have argued that Simpkins has failed to fully get the recognition he deserves. For example, despite his major contribution to Maclean's Magazine, they neglected to mention him or Jasper in their anniversary issue.

James Simpkins was married to Ethel Mary Thom who died in 2001. They had five children and at the time of his death he had ten grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.

In 1968 a seven-year-old Ottawa boy was being sent to Boston's Children's Hospital Medical Centre for corrective heart surgery paid for by private charity. In a gesture of encouragement Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau gave the boy a picture with the words "A thousand best wishes". It was a picture of the Prime Minister with Jasper the Bear.

In 1948 he began a regular cartoon feature for Maclean's magazine, Jasper the Bear, which would prove to be his most famous and enduring creation. In 1955, Simpkins provided the artwork for a 5¢ Canadian stamp which was the idea of Canadian hockey great and member of parliament Lionel Conacher. The stamp featured three Canadian hockey players in action. On August 6, 1962, while living in Beaconsfield, Montreal he began a thrice-weekly cartoon feature for the Montreal Gazette called Simpkins' Montreal.

In 1962 Jasper was adopted as the official mascot for Jasper National Park in Alberta erecting a statue of Jasper at the train station. Jasper cartoons were also reprinted internationally in England, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and Mexico. In the 1960s Jasper's copyright was sold to Irwin Toys who produced a line of Jasper toys. In 1968 Jasper was used as the official mascot of the charity The United Appeal. As part of their fundraising campaign, Jasper visited various locations including Parliament Hill in Ottawa. This larger-than-life Jasper, a live person in a costume, had his picture taken hugging Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.

His most famous creation was the cartoon Jasper the Bear which appeared in Maclean's magazine for over 20 years and became popular across Canada. The character first appeared in the November 15, 1948 issue and ran as a regular feature until 1968. It was then syndicated by Canada Wide Features running in newspapers across Canada for four more years until Simpkins retired in 1972. Jasper was also featured in several books.

James Nathaniel Simpkins (November 26, 1910 – February 1, 2004) was a Winnipeg-born cartoonist and artist. He was one of the original artists at the National Film Board of Canada where he worked for many years before launching a successful freelancing career. His cartoon character Jasper the Bear was famous throughout Canada from 1948 to 1972 and remains as the mascot of Jasper National Park.