George Meade Easby

George Gordon Meade Easby (June 3, 1918 – December 11, 2005), also known as Meade or Mr. Easby, was a multi-talented person, from an artist to acting and producing films. He also served as an employee of the U.S. State Department for over twenty-five years and as a talk host on an AM radio station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Easby was the great-grandson of General George Meade, victor of the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg against Robert E. Lee, and a descendant of seven signers of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. Easby's mother was a descendant of Nicholas Waln, who came to Philadelphia in 1682 aboard the ship Welcome with William Penn, and was later given the section of the city now known as Frankford. Early life and family background Easby was born on June 3, 1918, in Philadelphia. His father was Major May Stevenson Easby, a banker in Philadelphia and World War I hero. Easby's mother was Henrietta Meade Large Easby, described as "prim and reserved, a Victorian lady of few words". He also had a younger brother Steven who died at a very young age in 1931 from some type of childhood disease. The family "traces its roots to Easby Abbey in 12th Century Yorkshire, England; that crossed over to America in 1683 aboard the Welcome with William Penn, and that counts among its descendants three – "at least three that I know of," says Easby – signers of the Declaration of Independence." General George Meade, victor of the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War, was Easby's great-grandfather through Meade's daughter. "My mother's mother was General (George G.) Meade's daughter," said Easby. Education and careers Easby graduated from Chestnut Hill Academy in June 1936, after reaching the age of 18. To celebrate all of this, on July 9, 1936, his parents purchased for him a brand new convertible Packard Super Eight luxury automobile from the nearest Packard dealership (Goldner Brothers) on Germantown Avenue. By the fall of the same year, he began studying illustration at the University of the Arts in Center City, Philadelphia. After the start of World War II in 1939, Easby was drafted into the United States Army and was assigned to patrol (by air) the Atlantic Coast. At the end of World War II Easby continued work as an artist and became a recognized cartoonist. He then got involved in acting and producing low-budget Hollywood films. Later, he worked as a radio talk host and as a U.S. State Department employee for over twenty-five years.