Found this in the archives of C-SPAN. Jeff MacNelly, Lee Judge and ??? discussing the art of editorial cartooning and the politics of the day (1984) with Brian Lamb.
Who’s the guy in the middle? They cut out the intros. His name is briefly mentioned – Bill DeOre?
That’s indeed Bill DeOre. He was with the Dallas Morning News.
Bill DeOre. And one hell of a great cartoonist.
He’s retired and living down in Texas according to my Uncle
who met him a few years ago
I felt very sad viewing the video. First to see the great Jeff MacNelly who left us at far too young an age. Also, the conversation took place during the golden era of our craft. There was a certain vitality in the conversation that belied a sense of importance to the business of editorial cartooning. I remember those halcyon days. Both Bill and Lee have since been dropped by their papers. In short time peolple will forget the special role cartoonists played in newspapers. I am grateful C-Span has kept this record on file. I remain upbeat about the future of visual satire and commentary but still pine for the era of Jeff MacNelly.
I remember interviewing Jeff way back around 1979 (after the first Shoe book came out) for my college newspaper. What a nice man. I still have the autographed book!
Jeff MacNelly = the best editorial cartoonist of the second half of the 20th century.
Judge is still with The Star, syndicated through King, and drawing great stuff. DeOre sorta dropped off the radar; I miss his work. And MacNelly will never be replaced (I recall he created some really funny cartoons about their TX boating trip).
So, yeah: this video has a bittersweet bite.
Two things to notice: they were drawing “elephants in suits” even 30 years ago, and they mentioned a syndicated cartoonist averaged $30-$50 a week per paper back then. WOW, that must mean that 30 years later that rate has had to triple or more, right??
I never thought I would see this again. Somebody actually taped this for me way back then.
A Jeff MacNelly original just sold on ebay for $700. About a
year ago about seven of them were listed from a seller in Texas.
They all sold for on average from 700 to over $1,000. Several were on the Middle east and were so on the mark they could have been produced yesterday. It was nice to see that people
out there still know and appreciate the value of his work.
McNelly looks like if Phil Donohue and Jay Leno had a brother! I’m from mid-missouri so I have always been a huge Lee Judge fan, first time I got to see what he looks like.
KAL – your work was a highlight last night at National Archive’s presentation by Stephen Hess and Sandy Northrop. They showed your cartoons and animation. Great presentation if anyone’s in DC (Library of Congress and Newseum coming up). Not sure if they videotaped.
Wonderful to see and hear Jeff MacNelly, UNarguably one of the greatest cartoonists – editorial and comic strip – ever. He died at 52 in 2000 and I’ve often thought if only he had lived through 9/11, what great and insightful work he would have given us about that awful time. He was a unique observer of life, that’s kind of where it all began with him. He saw things and understood things better than most. And then he had the immense talent to express it in his own unique way. And that was just the editorial side. There still was the imaginative genius and unique humor in “Shoe.”
Thanks for the video!