I just saw the latest editorial cartoon from the Stater’s own Chris Sharron. Here’s what it looks like:

I love it. Kent State students, like many Midwestern counterparts, got a slight reprieve from the bitter winter this week when they had a snow day. Remember how I blogged last week about their whining because of the cold? I’m sure they’re still not happy but maybe a little more complacent. Although, I hardly think the futile protests had any impact on the decision to cancel classes this week. I just loved Chris’s “hell freezing over” metaphor here because, every time a major university cancels classes for the weather that’s how it feels: Can it really be happening or was I imagining things?

Chris is a ridiculously talented editorial cartoonist. That’s hard to come by, especially at the collegiate level where kids who think they can draw far outnumber those who actually can. That was why when Chris walked into the newsroom a few summers back we snagged him. I was the managing editor that summer, and I remember the editor telling me some kid had dropped off some sketches and now was going to be our illustrator. Just like that.

Matt, the editor, had a way of getting super excited about other people’s talents. He was never jealous, but he was always impressed by good work. “Man, this guy is so good,” I remember him commenting about one of my reporters that summer, saying that he “loved reading his stories” because they were so well written. I always admired Matt’s ability to be awestruck. So, when that “kid,” at the time only a junior in high school taking post secondary classes at Kent State, produced some awesome illustrations that summer, I was more than happy to join in the revelry. Our annual orientation issue that fall would not have been nearly as awesome without Chris’s helpful hand. Two of our four section fronts were pretty much dominated by illustrations with content overlaid.

Chris has only gotten better since then. This isn’t the best editorial cartoon I’ve seen from him, but it is a good sampling. He’s tackled some pretty big topics and keeps up on current events in politics, entertainment and local affairs probably better than most of his j-school counterparts. The thing is, he’s not in the j-school. Although he works for student media in production and as an editorial cartoonist for the Stater, his major is actually middle-childhood education. I asked him once why he was choosing to do that when he had such potential (imagine if you’re this good at 18 how good you’ll get). I forget his exact reasoning, but I believe it was something about having a career to fall back on and being realistic. :shrug: Either way, just as Matt was always amazed by other’s talents, I continue to be amazed by Chris’s wit.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 18th, 2007 at 1:11 am and is filed under College, Fun. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.