Signe Wilkinson (born July 25, 1950, in

Wichita Falls, Texas Wichita Falls ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls metropolitan area, Wichita Falls metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses all of Archer County, Tex ...

) is an

editorial cartoonist An editorial cartoonist, also known as a political cartoonist, is an artist who draws editorial cartoons that contain some level of political or social commentary. Their cartoons are used to convey and question an aspect of daily news or current ...

best known for her work at the ''

Philadelphia Daily News ''Philadelphia Daily News'' is a tabloid newspaper that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper is owned by The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC, which also owns ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', a daily newspaper in Philadelphia. The ''Dail ...

''. Her work is described as having a "unique style and famous irreverence." Wilkinson is the only female editorial cartoonist whose work has been distributed by a major syndicate. Wilkinson is the first female cartoonist to win the

Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning Pulitzer may refer to: *Joseph Pulitzer, a 19th century media magnate *Pulitzer Prize, an annual U.S. journalism, literary, and music award *Pulitzer (surname) *Pulitzer, Inc., a U.S. newspaper chain *Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, a non-prof ...

(1992) and was once named "the Pennsylvania state vegetable substitute" by the former speaker of the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

. In 2011, Wilkinson received a Visionary Woman Award from Moore College of Art & Design. She has also won four Overseas Press Club Awards and two Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards for Cartooning. In late 2020, Wilkinson retired as the editorial cartoonist for ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...

'' and the ''Philadelphia Daily News''. She still publishes cartoons in Sunday editions of the ''Inquirer''.

Biography

Early life and education

Wilkinson was born into a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

family in

, on July 25, 1950. She received a Bachelor of Arts in English at the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

. She then attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; to support herself, she worked with graphic design at the Academy of Natural Sciences, and various regional newspapers hired her as a stringer.

Career

After Wilkinson received her BA in English, she began to pursue careers in journalism. She worked as a reporter, stringing for the ''Daily Post'', the

King of Prussia The monarchs of Prussia were members of the House of Hohenzollern who were the hereditary rulers of the former German state of Prussia from its founding in 1525 as the Duchy of Prussia. The Duchy had evolved out of the Teutonic Order, a Roman C ...

, and the West Chester ''Daily Local News''. She also worked for the Quakers and the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University before working for a housing project in

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

. This job shortly ended due to a coup d'état in Cyprus, followed by a military invasion from

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Once Wilkinson returned to reporting, she would draw the people she reported on. Realizing her interest in both art and politics, Wilkinson attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts for a year. During her time there, she stringed for various Philadelphia and New York publications. In 1982, she earned a full-time job at the ''

San Jose Mercury News ''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidia ...

'', where she spent three and a half years working as a cartoonist. In the mid-1980s, Wilkinson worked for the ''

'' as a cartoonist, where she still draws five cartoons a week. In 1992, she became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning. The same year, she released her first collection of cartoons, ''Abortion Cartoons on Demand''. Wilkinson has also created cartoons for '' Working Woman'', ''

Ms. Ms. (American English) or Ms (British English; normally , but also , or when unstressed)''Oxford English Dictionary'' online, Ms, ''n.2''. Etymology: "An orthographic and phonetic blend of Mrs ''n.1'' and miss ''n.2'' Compare mizz ''n.'' The pr ...

'', ''

Organic Gardening Organic horticulture is the science and art of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, or ornamental plants by following the essential principles of organic agriculture in soil building and conservation, pest management, and heirloom variety pres ...

'', the Institute for Research on Higher Education and several other publications, such as the '' Friends Journal'' and the University Barge Club newspaper. In 1992, she published her first collection of her work, entitled ''Abortion Cartoons on Demand''. In 2005, she released her second collection of cartoons, ''One Nation, Under Surveillance: Cartoon Rants on Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Privacy''. She served as president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists from 1994 to 1995. On November 21, 2007, Wilkinson launched a syndicated daily comic strip with United Media entitled ''Family Tree''. This strip focused on environmental issues. ''Family Tree'' concluded on August 27, 2011. For ''

'' magazine, Wilkinson created a comic strip entitled ''Shrubbery'' that centered on botanical and political topics. The Washington Post Writers Group syndicated Wilkinson's cartoons.

Personal life

Wilkinson and her husband live in Pennsylvania with their two birds, five goldfish, and a dog named "Ginger."

Awards

* 1991: Clifford K. and James T. Berryman Award for Editorial Cartooning * 1992:

* 1996:

Overseas Press Club The Overseas Press Club of America (OPC) was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The wire service reporter Carol Weld was a founding member, as was the war correspondent Peggy Hull. The club seeks to maintain ...

Award- Thomas Nast Award * 2000: Overseas Press Club Award- Thomas Nast Award * 2002: Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award- Cartoon * 2006: Overseas Press Club Award- Thomas Nast Award * 2008: Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award- Cartoon * 2011: Visionary Woman Award from Moore College of Art & Design * 2013: Aronson Award for Cartooning- Cartooning with a Conscience * 2014: Overseas Press Club Award- Thomas Nast Award

Notable works

* ''Abortion Cartoons on Demand'' (Cartoonist Group, 1992) * ''One Nation, Under Surveillance: Cartoon Rants on Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Privacy'' (Cartoonist Group, 2005) * Illustrations for ''Mike McGrath's Book of Compost'' by Mike McGrath (Sterling, 2006) * Illustrations for ''You Bet Your Tomatoes'' by Mike McGrath (reissued in 2008) * Illustrations for ''Joe Sixpack's Philly Beer Guide'' by Don Russell (Camino Books, 2008) * Contributor to cartoon collection of ''Sex and Sensibility: Ten Women Examine the Lunacy of Modern Love in 200 Cartoons'' (Twelve, 2008) * ''Family Tree'' with United Media (November 21, 2007 – August 27, 2011) * ''Shrubbery'' for ''

References

External links

*
''Family Tree''
at GoComics * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkinson, Signe 1959 births 21st-century American women Living people American editorial cartoonists American comic strip cartoonists American women comic strip cartoonists American female comics artists American female comics writers American women editorial cartoonists Artists from Texas Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning winners People from Wichita Falls, Texas American satirists American women satirists American political artists American humorists American women humorists