A Real Comic Strip Character

Not many people can say that they had a comic strip character based on them, but Margaret Boonstra was one of those people.

Margaret Beshore, as she was named at the time, served as Vice Consul for the U.S. Department of State in Panama from 1961-1963. Her mother, Ellen Beshore, was a close friend of Dale Messick, the creator of the popular and long-running comic strip, Brenda Starr, Reporter. In 1963, Ellen Beshore and Dale Messick visited Margaret in Panama and toured the Canal Zone. Subsequently, Messick produced several strips over a few months about Brenda Starr’s trip to Panama and her interactions with a Vice Consul named “Maggie Shore”.

In November 2021, Margaret loaned her original copies of the comic strip and her personal photos so that we could scan them for the collection. Sadly, Margaret passed away this month here in Gainesville, Florida, so we are sharing a selection of the images to spotlight her service with the Embassy and her role in the comic strip.

Brenda Starr Reporter comic strip featuring Panama Canal — *Brenda Starr, Reporter* comic strip featuring Brenda Starr arriving at the Panama Canal

Brenda Starr Reporter comic strip featuring Maggie Shore character — *Brenda Starr, Reporter* comic strip featuring Maggie Shore (Margaret Beshore). Note the accurate depiction of Front Street in Colón.

Margaret Beshore 1962 — Margaret Beshore, 1962

Dale Messick (right) and Ellen Beshore (left), 1963 — Ellen Beshore (left) and Dale Messick (right), 1963

Margaret joined the State Department as a Foreign Service Officer and started in the position of Vice Consul in Panama in January 1961. She oversaw immigration visas and worked closely with West Indian and Cuban people who were seeking to immigrate to the U.S. Margaret made the most of her time in Panama by exploring the region and even taking part in an amphibious landing exercise and a cross-country trek with the U.S. Army Jungle Warfare Training Center (among the first group of women to do so through the Center). She also met her future husband while in Panama: Clarence Boonstra was political adviser to U.S. Southern Command at the time, and later served as Ambassador to Costa Rica in the late 1960s.

Margaret Beshore participating in Jungle Warfare Training Center exercise along with other women at Fort Sherman — Margaret Beshore participating in a U.S. Army Jungle Warfare Training Center exercise along with other women at Fort Sherman, Canal Zone, circa 1961-1963

Adelaide Lepingwell and Margaret Beshore, circa 1961-1963 — Margaret Beshore and Adelaide Lepingwell participating in Jungle Warfare Training Center exercise, circa 1961-1963

Did you know or work with Margaret during her time in Panama and the Canal Zone? Did you take part in the Jungle Warfare Training Center exercise with her? Did she help you with your immigration process? Did you read about “Maggie Shore” in Brenda Starr, Reporter? Do you know of other comic strips featuring characters based on people from Panama and the Canal Zone? We would love to get your comments.