EDITORIAL CARTOONS – BACKGROUND
My first job after graduating from art school was helping prepare a special geology exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History. Each day I would walk through a different section of the museum to get to my workplace, absorbing the wonders on display. When the six months project I had been hired for was complete, I reluctantly chose to move on, where my abilities would face a greater challenge.
I obtained a job in the Art Department of NEWSDAY on Long Island. When the political cartoonist left, I applied for the position. At that point, I had never drawn a political cartoon, but the publisher, Alicia Patterson, liked the examples I submitted, and I got my chance to learn on the job. I drew the editorial cartoons for Newsday for nine years, leaving only when the publishers, Harry Guggenheim and Alicia Patterson, died, and the paper was sold.
Drawing a political cartoon six days a week was a challenge. I was sometimes asked to illustrate the day’s editorial at the daily conference. Other days I could come up with my own ideas. Alicia Patterson was a Liberal, and her husband Harry Guggenheim was a conservative, so although nothing was ever told me specifically, I was aware there was a fine line I couldn’t cross. Overall, I was largely free to express my own opinions. But Alicia Patterson’s love for animals is reflected in many cartoons.
I hope you enjoy looking at the selected cartoons as they bring back the history of the times and passing parade of well-known figures.
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