Editing Bob Browne (section)

==Career==
After two years in Wewak with VSO, Browne moved to [[Port Moresby]], the capital of PNG, where he helped to establish the Centre for Creative Arts in 1972. When it became the [[University of Papua New Guinea|National School of Arts]], he became head of the Graphics Department.<ref name=David/><ref>{{cite web |title=Imagining Papua New Guinea |url=https://nga.gov.au/exhibitions/imagining/ |website=National Gallery of Australia |access-date=11 March 2026}}</ref> 

He first became widely known to the PNG public through a series of cartoons advertising [[Isuzu]] motor vehicles. Called ''Isuzu Lu'', the cartoons featured the main character, Lu, and many others in situations where they benefitted from owning or being in Isuzu vehicles. The characters spoke in urban ''Tok Pisin'', were often shown in traditional dress and were usually in overcrowded vehicles, whether [[pickup trucks]] or buses. These cartoons led, in 1980, to his being offered space in the ''Papua New Guinea Post-Courier'' for a daily cartoon, called ''Grass Roots''. With his instantly recognisable drawing style, Browne portrayed Roots as a rather hopeless, beer-drinking character with a long-suffering wife. Despite his naivety, Roots was able to identify problems in PNG and criticise its shortcomings in a non-aggressive way, not letting his criticisms descend into cruelty.<ref name=David/><ref name=Maus/><ref>{{cite web |title=Tok Pisin with Isuzu Lu: Hey, Poro! |url=https://faroutliers.com/2009/09/27/tok-pisin-with-isuzu-lu-hey-poro/ |website=Far Outliers |access-date=11 March 2026}}</ref><ref name="Garry">{{cite web |title=The Garry Trudeau of Papua New Guinea |url=https://microkhan.com/2011/03/09/the-garry-trudeau-of-papua-new-guinea/ |website=Microkhan.com |access-date=11 March 2026}}</ref>

In 1981 Browne started the Grass Roots Comic Company. As well as cartoons for newspapers, he produced anthologies of his work, such as the ''Isuzu Lu'' and ''Grass Roots'' cartoons, as well as illustrations for many books and booklets. He produced ''The Grass Roots Guide to Papua New Guinea Pidgin'', in which the Roots character defined in his inimitable way the meaning of terms in ''Tok Pisin'', such as ''Mauswara'' (Mouth water), "Like smoke out the exhaust pipe of a bus, it comes out of the mouth of most politicians when somebody turns on their ignition." The definition was accompanied by a cartoon of a bloated politician floating like a balloon.<ref name=David/><ref name=Maus/><ref name=Garry/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Browne |first1=Bob |title=The Best of Grass Roots, No. 1 |date=1981 |publisher=The Grass Roots Comic Company |edition=First |url=https://www.abebooks.co.uk/Best-Grass-Roots-1980-81-Browne-Bob/32370107239/bd |access-date=11 March 2026}}</ref>  

For some years Browne produced ''The Grass Roots Offisel Kalenda''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Grass Roots Offisel Kalenda|url=https://www.abebooks.com/first-edition/Grass-Roots-Offisel-Kalenda-1991-Browne/32372624573/bd |website=Abe Books |access-date=11 March 2026}}</ref> In 1991 he collaborated with David Ingram and Peter Henshall to produce an online training manual for journalists that became very popular throughout the South Pacific.<ref name="Manual">{{cite web |last1=Ingram |first1=David |last2=Henshall |first2=Peter |last3=Browne |first3=Bob |title=About The News Manual |url=https://www.thenewsmanual.net/about.htm |website=The News Manual |access-date=11 March 2026}}</ref> Browne also worked as a church pastor, a missionary and as manager of the Port Moresby City Mission, which provides vocational training for young people.<ref>{{cite web |title=City Mission Headquarters, Port Moresby |url=https://citymissionpng.org/ |website=City Mission PNG |access-date=11 March 2026}}</ref> He played, coached and supported basketball and soccer. He also served on various government advisory bodies. In 1985 he received Papua New Guinea's 10th Anniversary of Independence Medal for Services to the Community.<ref name=David/><ref name=Maus/>