Yesterday Mike Keefe won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning. I wanted to write a round-up of some of the loose ends regarding the Pulitzer selection that wasn’t available when I posted the announcement.
From Mike’s editor we have a congratulatory statement accounting Mike’s longevity in the field:
“This is fabulous for Mike Keefe,” said Post editor Gregory L. Moore. “He’s been working at his craft for 30-some years.”
The fact that Mike has been producing such consistent work for all these years and finally getting the big nod is a common theme. Mike acknowledged that as well:
“I am gobsmacked,” Keefe said. “In recent years, the Pulitzer has gone to much younger folks, who are newer in the business. I thought my day had passed.”
The same article where I pulled the above quotes mentions that the Denver Post has had two other Pulitzer cartoonists: Paul Conrad and Pat Oliphant.
Now on to the prize itself. Andrew M. Seaman live tweeted the Pulitzer announcements and the Q&A afterward. To him we owe this little tidbit. When asked why there is an editorial cartooning category but no multimedia category, the response was “They want to integrate the two components.”
I thought that was an interesting statement – especially considering that Keefe’s work had no multimedia component.
And lastly, the jury for the editorial cartooning category consisted of:
Gilbert Bailon, editorial page editor, St. Louis Post-Dispatch (chair)
Lucy Shelton Caswell, professor emerita, The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum
Mark Fiore, political cartoonist/political animator, San Francisco, Calif.
Renee Loth, columnist, The Boston Globe
Tom Waseleski, editorial page editor, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette