State provides wealth of material for cartoonist

By Murray Bozeman, newseditor@laurelleadercall.com

December 06, 2006 10:42 am

— Marshall Ramsey can think of no better place in this country to be an editorial cartoonist than right here in Mississippi.
Ramsey said he survived the late Gov. Kirk Fordice, and now he is surviving Jackson Mayor Frank Melton. In his 10th year as the editorial cartoonist at The Clarion-Ledger, he is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, and his cartoons have appeared in USA Today, Newsweek, U.S. News and World Report, The Chicago Tribune and The New York Times.
Ramsey was the guest speaker at Tuesday’s Laurel Rotary Club meeting.
A native of Atlanta, Ga., Ramsey moved to Jackson from San Diego, Calif., and this state, and its politicians, have provided him with a wealth of material over the years.
“I realize this place is paradise for a cartoonist,” he said. “I’ve been really lucky, because I’ve had some great characters. I feel sorry for cartoonists in other parts of the country.”
Ramsey admitted there is nothing more frightening than staring at a blank screen, but, thanks to the characters that populate Mississippi politics, he is able to produce a cartoon each day. When asked where he gets his ideas, Ramsey had a simple answer.
“I just walk out to the end of the driveway, pick up the newspaper, and there is something stupid to write about.
“And Frank (Melton), bless his heart, he does have a sense for the dramatic,” Ramsey said.
He said the hardest cartoon he has ever drawn was the one he did right after the second tower of the World Trade Center was hit by terrorists. The one of which he is most proud was completed two days after 9/11, and depicts varied faces of Americans, in the shape of an eagle. It is titled “United We Stand.”
Rotary Club member Jim Truesdell invited Ramsey to speak to the group. He said when he first moved to Mississippi, Ramsey’s cartoons provided him with a “perspective on the state that doesn’t often get told.”
“He has a unique understanding of events here,” said Truesdell. “His cartoons ring true, and they’re funny.”

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