Cartoonistry: This graphic designer doesn't regret 30 years at the Shiny Sheet
It’s hard for me to believe, but this week represented my 30th anniversary as the editorial cartoonist for the Palm Beach Daily News. Even more unbelievable, I was my son’s age, 41 years old, when it all began.
I was operating my own graphic design studio in Jupiter when the then-editor of the Shiny Sheet, Joyce Reingold, contacted me about providing cartoons for the paper’s newly-initiated weekly editorial page. I am descended from a Palm Beach pioneer family and grew up with one foot on the island and one foot on the mainland, so the idea intrigued me.
In today’s parlance, the one-cartoon-a-week freelance gig would have been called a “side hustle.” I never looked at it as a “hustle” though. To me, it was an enjoyable evening of sketching until I came up with something that both made a point and was funny. The added satisfaction of illustrating the cartoon art with a flourish was like a cherry on top.
It was a welcome interlude from my otherwise all-encompassing commercial art business that reminded me why I chose to be an artist in the first place. I told myself that if I ever reached the point where it wasn’t fun anymore, I’d give it up. That never happened!
Part of my initial agreement with the editors was to stick to local stories rather than duplicate the national scope of our metropolitan sister-publication, the Palm Beach Post. That didn’t happen either! Palm Beach regularly made national and international headlines from the day I started. Beginning with the William Kennedy Smith trial, the town and the county became increasingly famous for salacious scandals, bizarre happenings, political controversies and financial chicanery.
Ten years ago, I was able to recap much of it in a book, "Billionaires and Butterfly Ballots, A 20-year Palm Beach ‘'Cartoonspective.'’' There was no difficulty at all filling it with cartoons that anyone from around the world could relate to. I’m kicking myself that I didn’t wait until the 30th anniversary, because it has been even wilder with (among other things) our own Donald Trump running for and being elected president.
Ironically, I’ll probably be remembered more for this one-cartoon-a-week freelance gig than my 50-year commercial art career. If you’d suggested that to my younger self when I was in the middle of creating brand marketing campaigns and corporate identity packages, winning Addy Awards and launching new magazines, I probably would have laughed. But life is full of surprises.
Palm Beach is a special place, and I am very appreciative that the town’s government and the Shiny Sheet readership have been enthusiastic participants on our editorial page. I’ve personally appreciated the criticisms as much as the plaudits. Believe me, your engagement has helped make this a 30-year labor of love.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Cartoonistry: A 30-year 'labor of love' making editorial cartoons
