Editorial cartooning

Joel Pett threatened over basketball cartoon

Skip to comments

Alan Gardner May 14, 2012 1 minute 3 comments

Last week I posted news that an editorial cartoon by Lexington Herald-Leader cartoonist Joel Pett enraged University of Kentucky for criticizing coach John Calipari for ending UK’s annual series with Indiana.

Joel describes returning from Washington DC where he helped the Cartoonists Rights Network committee to select a worthy Courage in Cartooning Award for a cartoonist who has shown bravery against threats to his or her cartooning.

I got off the plane Tuesday afternoon and have spent nearly every waking hour since dealing with angry hoop fans, displeased, to put it mildly, at the way I lampooned UK Coach John Calipari after he refused to play Indiana in Bloomington again.

A dozen or so have canceled their papers. Many dozens have sent me e-mails, most of them unprintable, some containing veiled threats. A handful called my home, one at 2 a.m., claiming to be outside. A UK fan posted my home address on the Internet and suggested it as a target for vandalism. A couple of correspondents lectured me that IU students treated Calipari and the Cats rudely in Bloomington during last season’s thriller. Imagine that.