Clay Bennett and the Christian Science Monitor

A few months ago political cartoonist Clay Bennett had an amicable parting with the Christian Science Monitor. It's sad for me, because I really liked his cartoons. They're very insightful of the political scene, but they're not mean spirited as some of the more incisive satirists like Ralph Steadman or Pat Oliphant could be. He uses computer graphics to create these simple images with empathetic characters, and he has a way to bring forth his message in an easy and direct way. One of my chief interests is finding artists who comment on politics and religion and society.

Some of the best social commentators right now are the political cartoonists. In its farewell editorial, the editors of the Christian Science Monitor wrote, " It is committed to the journalistic tradition that a visual statement about something in the news can, in a glance, capture the essence of a theme - and sometimes two themes at once. Cartoons, by their humor, help stimulate thought and discussion over ideas."

To look at Clay Bennett's work you could go here.

The Christian Science Monitor is one of the regular papers that we receive in the library where I work and I think it's one of the best. It was founded in 1908 by Mary Baker Eddy and is run by the The First Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston, Massachussetts, and its politics is fair and middle of the road.

My favorite part of the paper is the back stories, which feature quirky people and surprisingly far left artists and activists. One of my favorite backstories was an article on Sara Peattie, a puppet builder and liberal political activist, who makes large puppets for political demonstrations. I always see these puppets in the news, but never thought to ask who made them, and Peatties's story is fascinating. The Christian Science Monitor's backstories highlight really wonderful people like Peattie who would otherwise be unknown to the general public.

Comments (2)

Clay Bennett

Hi Angelo-

Thanks so much for the nice comments about my work. Although I'm no longer drawing for The Christian Science Monitor, you can still see my work 5 days a week.

I'm now working for the Chattanooga Times Free Press, and my cartoons can be seen at www.timesfreepress.com. I hope you'll come by to see what I've been up to the past several months.

Thanks again for the nice mention and I hope you'll come by my new home on the web.

Best,
Clay

Posted by Clay Bennett | March 23, 2008 10:47 AM

Posted on March 23, 2008 10:47

Angelo Lopez

Thank you Clay. It's an honor to have you respond to my post. I love your work for its directness and humor. I have aspirations of being a political cartoonist, and you've been an influence on me. I'll check out the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Posted by Angelo Lopez | March 23, 2008 7:59 PM

Posted on March 23, 2008 19:59

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