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April 6, 2002
"The Man Had Some Vision"
By JOEL PETTI was given my first book ofHerblock cartoons when I wasabout 15, and his characters madean immediate and indelible impressionon me. The panels were full ofbloated, greedy business lobbyists,weak-kneed politicians, super-sizedtalking A-bombs, grimly grinningreapers, and all manner of othershady double-dealers, often setagainst a cast of innocents.
I was hooked. Like several generationsof editorial cartoonists, Iwanted to do what Herblock wasdoing. As I studied his other works,a remarkable career presented itself,stunning in its scope and grasp,an enormously broad and tenaciousbody of commentary.
As if all this weren't enough, theearly books revealed that Herblockhad pegged then-president Nixon asunsavory some 20 years beforeWatergate, had taken on McCarthyismfrom the outset, had pressedfor campaign reform since the '30s,targeted tobacco companies sincethe '50s, and had been drawingenvironmental cartoons since ...well, since his very first cartoon, in1929.
The man had some vision.His storied career aside,Herblock was also simply a decentman, a very plain-spoken aw-shuckskind of guy, modest and friendly,who always seemed surprised whencompliments came his way. He wasthe kind of guy who might clip thework of a less-accomplished fellowcartoonist, and mail it off with ascrawled way-to-go attached.
I met Herblock on six occasions,and we corresponded on a dozenmore over the years. I savor themeach, in the same the way a journeymanpitcher might recall facingBabe Ruth or a cab driver mightremember shuttling Albert Einsteinto work. I bore starstruck witnessto occasions when Herb was publiclysaluted, the speakers strainingto find words equal to his accomplishments.
Herb would just sitthere grinning, and shrug it all offas though anyone might have donethe same, had they just beenhanded some paper and pencils.
When the gentle Herblock's historiclife's work was through, andhe was memorialized at Washington'sNational Cathedral, I wouldn'thave been anywhere else. I waspleased that the Post's publisher,Donald Graham struck just the righttone in his eulogy, noting that theword "great" is tossed around freelyin Washington, but that it rightlyapplied only to Herb. And I smiledbroadly through tears as I readHerb's own words regarding thehereafter:
"If the time should come whenpolitical figures and all the rest ofus sprout angel wings, there will stillbe different views on the properwhiteness and fluffiness of thewings, as well as flaps over theirflapping, speed and altitude. Andthere will still be something funnyabout a halo that's worn slightlyaskew. When that happy heaven-on-earthday comes, I'd still like to bedrawing cartoons. I wouldn't wantto see any head angel throwing hisweight around."
Leave it to Herblock to give 'emhell in heaven.
American Editor, December 2001