Hired as the cartoon editor of Parade in 1979, Hoest created Laugh Parade for that Sunday supplement magazine in 1980. For Laugh Parade, he ganged together several miscellaneous cartoons, adding Howard Huge to that mix in 1981.
He was president of the National Cartoonists Society at the time of his death. Hoest, who lived in Lloyd Neck, Long Island, was 62 when he died of lymphoma at New York Medical Center. He was survived by his wife, Bunny Hoest; his mother, Dorothea Whittinghill of Lloyd Neck; nine children and stepchildren.
Hoest was reportedly a diligent cartoonist, putting in ten hours a day at his drawing board. "It is a business, and I have to treat it like a business. I keep busy. That's the way I make my living". After Hoest's death, Reiner continued to illustrate all the features, while Hoest's widow, Bunny Hoest, took over the scripting. Reiner recalled:
- Bill Hoest insisted on doing each of his comics meticulously. The artwork, writing, lettering and inking were all done in such a way as to meet his high self-imposed standards. I came to realize that his success, which so many cartoonists young and old tried to analyze, was the result of a simple rule: Learn to do each segment of a comic professionally. Bill Hoest could draw well, letter attractively and legibly, design in an eye-catching fashion, direct and control the action and expression of his characters, and write material that was genuinely funny. He then blended the elements to produce work that stood out on the comics page. I must now meet that same standard of excellence.
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