Syndicated cartoonist Gary Varvel entertains Honey Creek students with samples of his work

There are only 80 editorial cartoonists in country today

By Arthur E. Foulkes

TERRE HAUTE — A nationally syndicated editorial cartoonist talked to students at Honey Creek Middle School on Tuesday about his job, dealing with rejection and the benefits of working hard.

Gary Varvel, whose syndicated editorial cartoons appear in the Tribune-Star, Indianapolis Star and close to 60 other newspapers, entertained the students with samples of his work and a caricature of one of their teachers, math instructor Jeff Thompson.

“This is my dream job,” Varvel said about drawing a daily cartoon for the Star’s editorial page.

At least one student at Honey Creek, Tifani Campbell, showed Varvel one of her own cartoons and said she wants to be a cartoonist when she gets older. “You’re on your way, girl,” Varvel told the Honey Creek seventh-grader after his presentation. “Keep working.”

Varvel’s visit to Honey Creek was part of the school’s Writers Fair. As part of the fair, many students have written their own books or written about famous artists.

Varvel showed kids examples of some of his published cartoons, including a recent one showing an enchanted Sen. Evan Bayh coyly saying to Sen. Hillary Clinton, “So I understand you’re [in Indiana] to talk about jobs.”

Another cartoon showed a baseball-playing Charlie Brown screaming “Good grief!” at an obviously steroid-enhanced Snoopy.

Varvel also showed the students his post-Sept. 11 cartoon depicting Uncle Sam holding the body of a firefighter. That cartoon was made into a poster and helped raised $100,000 for New York relief efforts after the Sept. 11 attacks, Varvel said.

“Editorial cartoons are not always funny,” Varvel told close to 250 Honey Creek students, the third group he had spoken to Tuesday. “Sometimes you get people who don’t like you very much. That’s part of the job.” He showed the kids a postcard from a woman who wrote, “Gary, I hope you die a long and painful death.”

Making it as an editorial cartoonist or having a cartoon strip is difficult, Varvel said. There are only 80 editorial cartoonists in America today – far fewer than the 350 NBA basketball players in the country, he said.

Still, Varvel encouraged the students to work hard for their dreams and not be discouraged by rejection. “Don’t let [rejection] make you a failure,” he said. “I got rejected over and over and over again.”

“Calvin and Hobbs,” one of the most popular comic strips of the 1980s and 1990s, was rejected by United Features Syndicate before being snapped up by Universal Press, Varvel noted.

Also as part of the Writers Fair, students displayed books they had written. Some of the books by Honey Creek students included “Pig French,” by Kaylin Jarvis, “Friendship Poems” by Sarah Al-Muairi and “Beauty Within” by Allison Pell.

“It’s tough” to make it as a professional cartoonist, Varvel told the kids. But working hard, including working hard in school, will pay off, he said. “The cream always rises to the top. It can happen.”

Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.