Looney, Ben Earl, artist, writer. Born, Yellow Pine, Louisiana, June 2, 1904; son of Julian A. Looney and Mollie McKinney. Education: Louisiana State University School of Journalism; Centenary College; Corcoran Art School, Washington, D.C.; Eastport, Maine, Summer School of Art; Arts Students’ League, New York; studied watercolor under George Ennis. First head of art department of LSU; taught art, Sarasota, Florida, New York City, Weston Massachusetts, Bremerton, Washington, Greensboro, North Carolina. His subject matter was provided by 35 of the e 50 states, Canada and Mexico; 45 of his paintings and articles were published in Ford Times; one is in the Smithsonian Institution magazine. In later life made home in Lafayette, Louisiana. Never married. Published works include Beau Sejour, watercolors of Louisiana plantation houses; Water Colors of Dixie; Cajun Country, pen and ink sketches of the Acadian country; Drawings of the Vieux Carre, captions written in both English and French; Cajun Vignettes, short stories and poems; Looney Plants Grow Wild, drawings, paintings, whimsical horticultural definitions. Died, Lafayette, May 25, 1981; willed his body to Louisiana State University School of Medicine.