About the Program
In this Encore Booknotes from October of 1993, political cartoonist Herbert Block discussed his collection of drawings, "Herblock: A Cartoonist’s Life." He spoke about his life, some of the people he met and drew during his career and his coining of the term "McCarthyism." The autobiography includes over 200 of his drawings, including President Nixon holding the GOP elephant hostage, President Carter viewing his own "fuzzy'' TV image and Oliver North turning shredded evidence into lucrative contracts.
Herbert Block
Herbert Block, editorial cartoonist with the Washington Post, died Monday, October 8, 2001 at the age of 91. Mr. Block began drawing cartoons in 1929, for the Chicago Daily News. He moved to the Newspaper Enterprise Association in 1933 and finally to the Washington Post in 1946. Mr. Block was with the Washington Post for over 55 years. Known as "Herblock" since the age of thirteen, his cartoons won Pulitzer Prizes in 1942, 1954 and 1979. In 1973, he shared a fourth Pulitzer Prize for the Washington Post’s Watergate coverage. He received five prizes for cartooning from Sigma Delta Chi, the professional journalism society, six honorary degrees, the Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award for contributions to the cause of freedom of speech and the press, the National Press Club Fourth Estate Award and the Franklin Roosevelt Freedom Medal. In 1994, President Bill Clinton awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. Mr. Block has caricatured thirteen presidents, beginning with Herbert Hoover and ending with George W. Bush. Collections of his cartoons include "Herblock’s State of the Union," "Herblock on All Fronts," "Herblock through the Looking Glass" and "Bella and Me: Life in the Service of a Cat."
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