News Release

August Marks Ted Rall's 10th Anniversary with UPS

Kansas City, MO  (08/17/2006)  Aug. 4 marked Ted Rall’s 10th anniversary of syndication with Universal Press Syndicate. Since the partnership was established in 1996, Rall’s cartoons have found a home in over 140 publications, including the Philadelphia Daily News, Los Angeles Times, Washington City Paper, and New York Times.

1996 was also the year Rall was honored as one of three finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. In addition, Rall’s cartoons have earned him the Deadline Club Award by the Society of Professional Journalists in 1998 for distinguished work on behalf of disadvantaged Americans, and Robert F. Kennedy Journalism for Cartoons awards in 1995 and 2000.

Rall was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1963, and he was raised in Kettering, Ohio. The Kettering-Oakwood (OH) Times was the first paper to publish Rall’s cartoons. Rall went on to draw cartoons for the Columbia Daily Spectator, the Barnard Bulletin, and The Jester while he was majoring in physics at Columbia University’s School of Engineering from 1981 to 1984.

He has published 15 books, including comic collections, graphic novels, anthologies of his favorite lesser-known cartoonists, and prose-only books. Nonconformity, creativity, and realism mix to illuminate problems of society, America, the individual, foreign countries, consumerism, and more. Rall’s eye for hypocrisy is keen. His art compliments his prose to expose absurdities hiding behind illusions. His latest release, Silk Road to Ruin: Is Central Asia the New Middle East?, is a collection of essays and graphic novellas that paint a picture of the region he believes will draw America’s primary attention in the years to come.

Taking some time out of his day, Rall answers some questions about his 10 years of syndication.

Does it feel like 10 or 100 years of cartooning?

More like one! Drawing political cartoons for a living has been my dream since I was a kid. I never tire of the thrill of knowing that I've drawn one that's smart, or seeing it in print, or getting a reaction from readers. I'm never bored or burned out. The great thing about cartooning is that it's so challenging. No one ever draws a perfect cartoon. Trying to get it right is always hard work, and a lot of fun.

Do any big moments of clarity in those 10 years stand out?

I had forgotten how vital editorial cartooning could be. Under Clinton our biggest controversies involved NAFTA and Monica Lewinsky. After the 2000 election crisis and 9/11, editorial cartooning suddenly seemed not only relevant, but vital--especially since regular journalists became so timid.

I've also come to realize that media has become more fragmented. Very few of the readers of my "terror widows" cartoon in 2002 had watched the television appearances that prompted it, so they assumed I was going after people without justification. Now I try to keep in mind the fact that some readers never watch cable news, while others never see network news and still others get their current events from Jon Stewart or blogs. It's a whole new world, or maybe it's more accurate to say that it's a bunch of little new worlds.

What are you most proud of in terms of professional accomplishments or recognitions?

Having editors think that my work is worthy of publication is by far the highest professional honor I know. A close second would be the occasional letter I receive from a reader telling me that my work caused him or her to think about an issue in a new way. In terms of honors and that sort of thing, I am proud of having won the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, because it rewards coverage of the problems of the disadvantaged. To me, that's the definition of a good cartoonist.

Do you consider yourself a cartoonist or an editorial cartoonist?

Both. I do social commentary as well as political cartoons. The former have taken a back seat in recent years because there's been so much to comment upon in the world of politics, but I'd never give up the right to make fun of people who advertise their schools on their butts or lick toads to get high.

Controversy seems to be a comfortable shoe that you wear. How did it get that way? Most people would go to bed sick to their stomachs every night knowing that they were going to have to face what you do the next day after one of your more explosive cartoons.

Hateful responses get under my skin, death threats obviously more so. But there are other jobs for people who are afraid of extreme reactions to their political or other points of view: Dog catcher. Computer programmer. Centrist Democratic Senator. As someone else said, it's not about not being afraid; it's about what you do when you are afraid. I worry about the vitriol but I can't let it stop me. Besides, for every reader who hates my stuff are many more who like it!

The imagery and language in your cartoons can be abrasive and uncompromising.

What is the reason behind this approach?

Editorial commentary is an inherently negative medium. It's ridiculous to do cartoons praising the government or some big business when there's so much wrong with the world that can be improved. Besides, government and corporations have PR flacks to promote themselves. I'm there to promote the interests of the ordinary people who get ignored by the rich and powerful by drawing attention to their plight. It's easier to get people's attentions to dreadful problems like poverty and patients who can't afford medical care with an abrasive approach. It seems more appropriate, too. Doesn't it?

What individual action or response do you hope your comic spurs when a person reads your strip?

To buy one of my books! I want them to think about an issue they might not have considered before, or to look at an old issue in a new way. I would be thrilled if they did additional research because of something I wrote. It's OK with me if they don't agree with me, just as long as they think about why they believe what they believe.

When dealing with serious topics such as war, what levels of communication can the cartoonist reach that the op/ed columnist can not? Why?

I do both the cartoons and a weekly column. For one thing, readers are a zillion times more likely to read a cartoon than a column. So right there, you've got their attention. Besides, cartooning is visceral, perhaps more so than even photography because--when done right--cartoons are more real than real. A gruesome photo of a casualty of war can be powerful. So can a vivid description of carnage. But a cartoon depicting that level of chaos somehow taps into something more primal, that runs hot, that matters more. It's hard to explain why, but there's no denying that it's true. Joe Sacco's war comics from Sarajevo are probably the most powerful document of the Yugoslavian civil war of the 1990s.

Who would you most like to find out was your secret fan?

Paul Verhoeven, director of Robocop and Starship Troopers, the most slyly subversive and brilliant films I've ever seen. Courtney Love and Winona Ryder, because smart and slightly damaged women are bedazzling. Garry Trudeau.

What's new? What's coming up professionally for you outside the comic strip you do for UPS?

I'm promoting two new books: Silk Road to Ruin, a book of graphic novellas and essays about Central Asia, and America Gone Wild, a collection of my cartoons. I'm also trying to decide what to do for my next book: a political polemic or a graphic novel. I draw cartoons for an alternative weekly in Los Angeles, the Sierra Club and MAD magazine. And I'm getting ready to travel to Tajikistan next spring to drive the Pamir Highway.

Creator(s): Ted Rall

Contact(s): Kathie Kerr

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