Florida's Editorial Cartoonists: A Collection of Editorial Art

Rating:
Summary: Florida's Editorial Cartoonists a Significant Collection
Review: In brief summary: a unique collection of contemporary editorial cartoons and a significant contribution, important to anyone interested in this facet of journalism in modern America. Nowhere exists a collection of all the cartoonists in one state. Pineapple Press, which specializes in Florida topics, published this first of its kind. Sixteen Florida newspaper cartoonists are represented here, giving readers a comprehensive opportunity to examine a wide variety of opinion on state, local and national issues. In his foreword, Pat Oliphant, one of the nation's best editorial cartoonists, offers acerbic comment on the state of editorial cartooning in America: not good. Oliphant commends author Harrison (a one-time newsman with a Ph.D., at the University of Miami) for undertaking the task of gathering this collection, with commentary and cartoons from each contributor, and describes the book as a "worthwhile historic document." It is that, and more. Author S.L. Harrison provides a perceptive introductory essay that provides a summary of editorial cartooning in America, noting that cartoons, once savage, biting and highly partisan, are today more often than not benign. Today, he notes, humor prevails: "the comic pages heavily influence the modern editorial page cartoon." A number of the Florida cartoonists, following the national example of Mike Peters and Jeff MacNelly, also produce a comic page feature in addition to their editorial page cartoon. For the record, cartoonists included in the collection are: Don Addis, St. Petersburg Times; Bruce Beattie, Daytona News-Journal; Clay Bennett, King Features; Earle Bowden, Pensacola News-Journal; James Casciari, Vero Beach Press Journal; Ralph Dunagin, Orlando Sentinel; Jake Fuller, Gainesville Sentinel; Ed Gamble, Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville); Chan Lowe, Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel; Doug MacGregor, Fort Myers News-Press; Jim Morin, Miami Herlad; Gene Packwood, Leesburg Daily Commercial; Jeff Parker, Florida Today (Melbourne); Wayne Stayskal, Tampa Tribune; Dana Summers, Orlando Sentinel; and C.M. Terry, Northwest Florida Daily News (Fort Walton Beach). One Florida cartoonist, Don Wright, declined to be included with his contemporaries. The omission is Wright's loss. This is a valuable book that brings to permanent print a number of artists who have not appeared in any collection to date. All are talented, a number are promising, some are outstanding: Jim Morin, a recent Pulitzer Prize-winner; Wayne Stayskal, who succeed Vaughn Shoemaker in Chicago; and Ed Gamble, who learned his trade at the Nashville Banner. No one interested in editorial cartoons should neglect this superb collection with excellent writing that introduces the reader to the artists who illuminate our newspaper pages with perceptive are and comment.

Rating:
Summary: Florida's Editorial Cartoonists a Significant Collection
Review: In brief summary: a unique collection of contemporary editorial cartoons and a significant contribution, important to anyone interested in this facet of journalism in modern America. Nowhere exists a collection of all the cartoonists in one state. Pineapple Press, which specializes in Florida topics, published this first of its kind. Sixteen Florida newspaper cartoonists are represented here, giving readers a comprehensive opportunity to examine a wide variety of opinion on state, local and national issues. In his foreword, Pat Oliphant, one of the nation's best editorial cartoonists, offers acerbic comment on the state of editorial cartooning in America: not good. Oliphant commends author Harrison (a one-time newsman with a Ph.D., at the University of Miami) for undertaking the task of gathering this collection, with commentary and cartoons from each contributor, and describes the book as a "worthwhile historic document." It is that, and more. Author S.L. Harrison provides a perceptive introductory essay that provides a summary of editorial cartooning in America, noting that cartoons, once savage, biting and highly partisan, are today more often than not benign. Today, he notes, humor prevails: "the comic pages heavily influence the modern editorial page cartoon." A number of the Florida cartoonists, following the national example of Mike Peters and Jeff MacNelly, also produce a comic page feature in addition to their editorial page cartoon. For the record, cartoonists included in the collection are: Don Addis, St. Petersburg Times; Bruce Beattie, Daytona News-Journal; Clay Bennett, King Features; Earle Bowden, Pensacola News-Journal; James Casciari, Vero Beach Press Journal; Ralph Dunagin, Orlando Sentinel; Jake Fuller, Gainesville Sentinel; Ed Gamble, Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville); Chan Lowe, Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel; Doug MacGregor, Fort Myers News-Press; Jim Morin, Miami Herlad; Gene Packwood, Leesburg Daily Commercial; Jeff Parker, Florida Today (Melbourne); Wayne Stayskal, Tampa Tribune; Dana Summers, Orlando Sentinel; and C.M. Terry, Northwest Florida Daily News (Fort Walton Beach). One Florida cartoonist, Don Wright, declined to be included with his contemporaries. The omission is Wright's loss. This is a valuable book that brings to permanent print a number of artists who have not appeared in any collection to date. All are talented, a number are promising, some are outstanding: Jim Morin, a recent Pulitzer Prize-winner; Wayne Stayskal, who succeed Vaughn Shoemaker in Chicago; and Ed Gamble, who learned his trade at the Nashville Banner. No one interested in editorial cartoons should neglect this superb collection with excellent writing that introduces the reader to the artists who illuminate our newspaper pages with perceptive are and comment.