"Nobody tells me what to draw." —Paul ConradFarewell to the fearless Paul Conrad.
Paul Conrad was the right man at the right time with the right job. Chief editorial cartoonist at the Los Angeles Times from 1964 to 1993, Conrad helped bring that newspaper to national prominence and was awarded three Pulitzer Prizes. Conrad's searing inks of President Nixon won him a place on Nixon's Second Enemies List in 1973. His favorite irony was that he was later named to the Richard M. Nixon Chair at Wittier College (1977-78).
"Conrad's name strikes fear in the evil hearts of men all over the world. Where there is corruption, greed or hypocrisy, everyone says, 'This is a job for Paul Conrad.' — Art BuchwaldAs a child, Conrad was encouraged in the arts and drawing by his parents. After service in the Army Corps of Engineers during World War II, he began his cartooning career at the University of Iowa's Daily Iowan then spent 14 years as editorial cartoonist at the Denver Post.
"I've never seen bad drawing destroy a good idea. On the other hand, I've never seen a good drawing save a bad idea." —Paul Conrad
"Conrad is ... more than a legend in cartooning and an institution in American journalism, he is a force of nature….You measure Conrad on the Richter scale." —Doug MarletteWatch Barbara Multer-Wellin's fabulous film Drawing Fire in its entirety, complete with opening commercial and commentary by Terrance Howard on PBS Independent Lens.
Read Yvonne French's article "Afflicting the Comfortable" on Conrad's 1999 talk at the Library of Congress on the occasion of official acceptance by the Library of a gift of 21 of his original editorial cartoons.
Conrad passed just after an exhibit of his work, "I, Con: The Brilliant Work of Paul Conrad" opened at the College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, California.
"No one ever accused me of being objective." — Paul ConradBooks by Paul Conrad include Pro and Conrad
with Art Buchwald, Conartist: Paul Conrad 30 Years with The Los Angeles Times,
I, Con: The Autobiography of Paul Conrad, Editorial Cartoonist,
and Drawing the Line: The Collected Works of America's Premier Political Cartoonist.
Visit Paul Conrad's official website.
Conrad's New York Times obituary.
Conrad's cartoons from his Denver Post years are housed at the Syracuse University Library.
