The New Orleans Advocate has announced that it has hired editorial cartoonist Walt Handelsman away from Newsday.
Here’s Walt talking about his decision to return to Louisiana, where he used to work for the Times-Picayune prior to moving to New York.
?A few years ago at a Tulane art fair, I purchased a brass skeleton key on a chain created by talented local artist and close family friend, Juliet Meeks,? Handelsman said. ?I?m not much of a jewelry-wearing guy, but I?ve worn that key under my shirt every single day as a personal reminder to someday unlock the door and get back home.?
?The fact that this opportunity has come along right now is very special to my entire family. The chance to once again live among old friends, work with Peter Kovacs and Dan Shea and reconnect with so many other talented, former colleagues now working for The Advocate is exciting.?
The Advocate is in Baton Rouge and I wonder if the paper would have been in a position to hire an editorial cartoonist had the dominate paper, The Times-Picayune of New Orleans, dropped their print run to three-times a week and thereby laying off their editorial cartoonist Steve Kelley.
Regardless, congratulations to Walt.
Will Newsday be hiring a new local cartoonist?
Walt, good for you my friend. And congratulations to the New Orleans Advocate. Mike.
Wow…what an obvious way to show your market readership that you seriously care about your community…by bringing back a much loved local institution. Somebody is serious about making some money.
This is gratifying on many levels. I’m happy for Walt to be able to “go home” again (having been there and done that), and am delighted to see the Baton Rouge organization really sticking it to Advance Publications and the Times-Picayune for their stupid decisions to retreat from running a daily newspaper, give away New Orleans coverage and axe their editorial cartoonist. Best wishes to Walt and the New Orleans Advocate! And maybe Advance will see the errors of their ways in New Orleans, Birmingham, Portland and other cities.
Wow—one newspaper spending money to take an EDITORIAL CARTOONIST away from another paper. Have I slipped into a time warp? This is great!
Congrats, Walt. Now there’s nothing to read in Newsday!
Welcome back to the neighborhood, Walt
As a Newsday reader I’m missing you. Good luck at the Advocate.