While newspapers continue to drop Non Sequitur (though at a far slower rate), those who have dropped it continue to get letters about the action. With the pro-Wiley Miller faction far outweighing those who agree with the papers’ decision to drop Non Sequitur.
Now there seems to be an organized push to return the comic strip to newspapers.
Friends, and Lovers of Truth, Justice, Freedom and Comedy
Comedian Elayne Boosler has started one such effort:
The great, multi-award winning cartoon strip, Non Sequitur, by humanitarian and genius Wiley Miller, has been canceled by over 100 newspapers this week over last Sunday’s cartoon. After decades of award winning genius, and producing over 9,896 funny, brilliant and touching cartoons, last Sunday Wiley included a “wink” to the Resistance in the strip. Though invisible to the naked eye, a reader caught it and a swift mobilization by the haters who cheer when reporters are attacked and beaten at Trump rallies led these newspapers to cancel him. Even though the comments in the papers were pro-Wiley 10 to 1, emails hold more weight. That is why I am asking you to send an email to save Non Sequitur (info below)…
Even providing the mock-up of a letter for supporters to send to newspaper editors:
Dear Editor,
I am writing to vehemently state my objection to the canceling of the cartoon strip “Non Sequitur”, and to appeal to your better angels and responsibility to serve the public. The “offending” word in Sunday’s cartoon was basically invisible, yet became a cause celeb by the same people who cheer when reporters are physically attacked and beaten at Trump rallies…
Our voices are slowly being shut down.
We cannot let them destroy one of the bravest, smartest and best.
Read Elayne’s full defense and full letter, with a follow-up response to editors.
UPDATE February 20, 2019 –
The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists Facebook page notes that Elayne Boosler is a longtime fan of newspaper comics and cartoonists:
We would like to point out that Elayne Boosler is a long-time fan and vocal supporter of cartoonists. She was the keynote speaker at the annual AAEC convention in 2004 and just killed it. Here she is paling around with cartoonist Gary McCoy.
In 2004 Dave Astor, for Editor and Publisher, reported on Elayne appearing at the convention:
Boosler ended up flying to the AAEC convention because of a chain of events that began last fall when she read a Los Angeles Times article about Berkeley Breathed, the “Bloom County” creator who was returning to syndication with the “Opus” strip. Boosler was upset that Breathed criticized some comics for being uninteresting, past their prime, and/or no longer done by their original creators. So she wrote a guest column for the Times about how she likes various kinds of comics — including those that are new or old, topical or purely funny, adult- or kid-oriented, gag-a-day or story-oriented, and done by the original creator or a successor.
“Non Sequitur” creator and former editorial cartoonist Wiley Miller of Universal Press Syndicate contacted Boosler after reading her column. They started corresponding, and the AAEC appearance eventually resulted.
Please to put non-sequitur back in the papers. most days it’s the only strip that makes the paper worth while. I know it’s not Nancy- no offense- but I stopped reading her and Sluggo many, many years ago. So! You must put Non Sequitur back or else!…
Wiley didn’t include “a wink to the Resistance,” he explicitly told the President of the United States to f*ck himself.
Neither was this slur “invisible to the naked eye” or “basically invisible.” It was, in fact, quite easy to see and quite disturbing to read.
Were it not for the fact that Trump was the subject of this obscenity, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. Wiley violated the trust of his publishers and his readers, and he deserves to pay a price.
I was glad to see Elayne’s tweet about the wrong perpetrated on Mr. Miller who I’ve admired for years. I am having fun writing to as many papers as I can on what would have been a lazy Sunday.
“Non Sequitur” cartoon is the ONLY reason I subscribe to our :right-wing local newspaper the Omaha World Herald.
Is there any place I can get a complete list of offended newspapers?
With email and US Mail addresses?
I have stamps, and I’m not afraid to use them.
Thank you so much for the text suggestion; I would not have been so polite.
I’m also using PayPal to send money to Wiley:
wileyink@earthlink.com
Oops, that’s wileyink@earthlink.net
Another post at this site https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2019/02/11/newspapers-are-dropping-non-sequitur-over-trump-transgression/ lists about four dozen newspapers that dropped Non Sequitur. If you scroll down to the bottom of the links for those papers you should find their contact information. I have about another four dozen not there and don’t plan on updating the post to include them.
Email may be better than snail mail. I don’t think a Casper Wyoming postmark will have much effect on a Columbus Ohio newspaper.