On Oct. 17, 2018, almost exactly one year ago, I wrote a cover story about Jacksonville-born and –based political cartoonist Ed Hall, who had recently undergone treatment for colon and liver cancer. So I felt a twinge of déjà vu when I found myself on the phone with Hall last week, again discussing cancer treatment. He had recently experienced a recurrence and went in to get it sorted—successfully, I might add.
above: a recent Ed Hall cartoon
Georgio Valentino, at Folio Weekly Magazine, talks to Ed Hall about his cartooning, his recent medical history, and his upcoming exhibit.
Hall is a lifelong Republican, and—spoiler alert!—I’m a lifelong Democrat. What unites us is, first of all, a commitment to civil discourse; and second, a distaste for the venality and incompetence of the Trump administration. Hall does credit Donald Trump with energizing journalism in a perverse way, though.
“Journalism was in trouble before Trump,” he says. “If anything, Trump’s war on the media has made people more aware of the role of a free and open press, and how important it is to democracy. I think he’s making journalism better in a weird way. I still believe America is a nation of good people. I have conservative friends. I’m willing to listen to them, and I hope they listen to me.”
To The Point – The Editorial Cartoons of Ed Hall