Good News: There's A Great Book Retrospective of Herblock's Career (An Interview)

(2009)
Herblock was the MAN when it came to editorial cartoons. You can see some of his classic cartoons on the presidents here and here
Herbert Lawrence Block won the Pullitzer Prize three times as well as the Presidential Medal of Freedom, not an easy accomplishment for someone holding elected officials feet to the fire on a regular basis.
He died in 2001.
I tell in the interview below an example or two of following his work at key parts of my life. I'll say more about him in the comments below.
I saw this book mentioned in the news and asked if I could interview someone about it and was elated that Harry Katz, Curator of The Herb Block Foundation Collection, agreed to let me interview him by email.
In addition to this new book there is an exhibition of his work traveling the country, which you can read about further here.
Scott:Great book. I thought I knew a lot about Herblock having read him for years - I remember taking a class in college comparing Iran-contra to Watergate, especially in terms of government and media, and each day
we'd gather around to read what Herblock wrote. And this was in So. Cal where it's harder to get the Washington Post! But I didnt know, for example, that he coined the term McCarthyism.
What is the relationship between the book and the exhibit of his cartoons?
Harry: Library of Congress Curators Sara Duke and Martha Kennedy produced the exhibition, which was informed by and includes selections from the book. The Library of Congress holds the Herblock archives, which includes his manuscripts, original cartoon drawings and sketches.
What were you goals in editing this book? I am wondering if it was hard to try to balance a goal of showing his representative pieces from each era with trying to avoid the book being dated?
The goal was to show Herblock at his best and since his best cartoons are never dated, no matter the era, the book seems fresh and timely. There are certain cartoons, "Fire!", for example, or the Huey Long "Crown Jewels" which will never be dated and must be shown. I can use my discretion on other more surprising discoveries such as the 1937 cartoons addressing underage weddings, legal pedophilia, or his gentle memorial to the London School gas explosion tragedy.
What was the hope with the inclusion of the DVD with the book?
Herblock covered American politics and society like no other cartoonist ever has. Technology now allows us to share the entire extant body of Herblock's published work. Few creators' archives would stand the scrutiny. Herblock's does.
The disk represents seventy years of world history through the mind of one of America's great commentators. It is great to see in the book what choices I made in defining Herblock's career but with the DVD readers can make their own choices as to his best work or identify specific cartoons and events. The DVD sheds light on every aspect of his career, even before he came to the Washington Post in 1946.
We see how his style and methods changed, how issues and motifs came and went in his work. The DVD gives everyone equal access to Herblock's ultimate legacy: his cartoons.
How DID you guys choose which cartoons to include? Did one person decide or was it a committee of people?
I produced a final illustration list compiled from selections made by Herb Bloc Foundation friends and former colleagues including Haynes Johnson, Herblock's longtime assistant Jean Rickard, Jill Stanley, Robin Meszoly and a few others. The selections include many of Herblock's own favorites, for example, classic Nixon cartoons from the Watergate portfolio.
What is your personal favorite and why? Or you can choose 3 to 5 if that would help?
There are too many favorites to count or choose. Here is a selection!
"Fire!," June 17, 1949
After World War II, the Soviet Union expanded its control to most of Eastern Europe, and it appeared that China would soon fall to the Communists. Herblock captured the postwar "Red Scare" hysteria sweeping the nation, as anti-communist crusaders led by the House Un-American Activities Committee threatened civil liberties in their efforts to preserve democracy.
"Nah, You Ain't Got Enough Edjiccashun to Vote" December 10, 1958
Herblock drew the future Obama beginning in the 195os, before he was born! Who knew?
Herblock caught the irony in ignorant Southern racists denying educated blacks their right to vote. He created this cartoon seven years before the Voting Rights Act of 1965 made scenes like this far less plausible. The Tuskegee Institute, one of the South's foremost institutions of higher learning was created by an act of the Alabama state legislature in 1880. Legendary black educator Booker T. Washington served as the school's first instructor and later, during World War II, students from the Institute gained military fame as the courageous Tuskegee Airmen.
"Bubble Dance" June 6, 1974
Two months before Richard Nixon resigned the presidency, Herblock drew this cartoon. In his book, Special Report, devoted to Nixon and Watergate, he wrote:
I've often summed up the essential role of the political cartoonist as being that of the kid in the Hans Christian Andersen story who says, "The emperor has no clothes on." For a long time after the Watergate break-in, it seemed to be a matter of saying, "Good grief, none of that bunch has any clothes on." There were a couple of occasions when I seemed appropriate to show the "emperor" literally in the buff.-Herblock
"Who's In Charge Here?" July 18, 1979
Herblock never admired President Jimmy Carter's leadership qualities but flinched even so on July 15, 1979, when, in a nationally televised address, Carter appeared to throw Americans under the bus holding them accountable for the country's mounting political problems and economic ills:
"What you see too often in Washington and elsewhere around the country is a system of government that seems incapable of action. You see a Congress twisted and pulled in every direction by hundreds of well-financed and powerful special interests. . . . You don't like it, and neither do I. What can we do? . . . One of the visitors to Camp David last week put it this way: 'We've got to stop crying and start sweating, stop talking and start walking, stop cursing and start praying. The strength we need will not come from the White House, but from every house in America.'"
Balance, February 4, 1998
Allegations of an affair between President Bill Clinton and former White House intern Monica Lewinsky became public on January 21, 1998. Although Clinton repeatedly and forcefully denied any improper relationship, later testimony proved his statements untrue and resulted in a House vote of impeachment. While fending off these accusations, Clinton proposed the first balanced budget in nearly 30 years.
Are there any cartoons you left out because you found them to be of questionable political or social taste?
No, Herblock possessed an unerring instinct for the ethical bounds of journalism. He never crossed the line. For example, his colleague Dan Fitzpatrick's portrayal of Sen. Joe McCarthy as a Neanderthal caveman was brutal, but Herblock's sweating, greasy, shabbily realistic depictions of McCarthy transcend caricature and proved more devastating.
Did you attempt to show the breadth of his abilities including some of the less-well-done items?
I illustrated the span of his career, the evolution of his work and style. I did not specifically choose less-well-done items, rather I specifically chose well-done but less-well-known items!
What (if anything) did you include that was about an issue that's pretty much been forgotten, and why?
Actually, I emphasized Herblock's unbelievable journalistic prescience. His ability, even as a young man in his twenties, to foresee political, social and economic trends well before they were identified by his colleagues, or countrymen and women. He is remembered for taking on hard issues with tough cartoons: joblessness, hopelessness, fascism, isolationism, racism, corruption, hypocrisy, Big Oil and Tobacco, gun control, poverty, education, civil rights and civil liberties. He always represented "the forgotten" man, woman, and child in American society, reminding us of our rights and our leaders of their responsibilities. He also recognized that a strong democracy is founded on an informed democracy and that public funding for education is critical to the future of our children and our country.
How does it feel to be put on the record as to what was the best of a real genius's work? Is this intended to be a definitive collection, and how much remains uncollected?
It's a privilege to work with his archives and very inspirational. The book is intended to remind us why we need commentators and cartoonists like Herblock now more than ever. Newspapers are folding and editorial cartoonists are vanishing. We take them for granted yet they represent a potentially powerful and independent voice for positive reform.
In this country, under our Constitution, political cartoonists can say publicly what no other commentators can and we need them in our lives as advocates and investigators. That is what Herblock did best and why we loved him; he was always on our side and always seemed to get it right.
The collection represents the most complete possible gathering to date of his published work. There may be no such thing as a definitive work; the CD includes the vast majority of known Herblock cartoons.
What was Herblock's impact on his genre?
Herblock led several generations of editorial cartoonists and garnered more awards than any other American. He stood up to power virtually alone on numerous occasions and proved himself the most independent, influential and courageous political cartoonist in our history.
How would you describe Herblock's lasting legacy?
Herblock succeeded because his work transcended cartooning, setting a new and incredibly enduring standard for commentary and investigative journalism. No one did it better.
Lastly, one of my other ongoing interviews is for a book about Gary Trudeau and Doonesbury - this one here - and with Trudeau he has received much feedback (which he seems to love) from politicians and public figures. Did Herblock also get much feedback from politicians and what did he think of it?
Herblock always seemed to provoke and quietly appreciate negative feedback from politicians. Although, within the Washington DC cocktail party set he avoided them like the plague, preferring to keep his social and professional circuits separate. Herblock's feeling seems to have been that if somebody's complaining he must have gotten something right.
McCarthy and Nixon complained publicly of their Herblock image. LBJ became such a nuisance requesting originals featuring his caricatures that Herblock refused his calls.