Three-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Paul Conrad, one of the most distinguished political cartoonists in the world, was chief editorial cartoonist of the Los Angeles Times from 1964 to 1993. His trenchant political observations appear in newspapers nationwide and abroad, and are syndicated four times a week by Tribune Media Services.
In addition to three Pulitzers (1984, 1971 and 1964), Conrad has won two Overseas Press Club awards (1981 and 1970). In 1997, the Society of Professional Journalists/Sigma Delta Chi (SDX) honored him with his seventh Distinguished Service Award for Editorial Cartooning, making him the only journalist to win that many SDX awards in any category since the annual competition began in 1932 (he also won in 1988, 1982, 1981, 1971, 1969 and 1963).
His favorite irony: Holding the Richard M. Nixon Chair at Whittier (Calif.) College (1977-78).
Conrad is a senior fellow in the UCLA School of Public Policy and Social Research for 2001-02. He also received a Culture of Liberation Award in 2002 from the Center for the Study of Political Graphics. Among his other honors are Coro Foundation, Public Affairs Award (2001); Los Angeles County Democratic Party, Franklin D. and Eleanor Roosevelt Man of the Year (2001); Pat Brown Institute, Lifetime Achievement Award (2000); American Association of Editorial Cartoonists, Lifetime Achievement Award (1998); Women Against Gun Violence, Award for Courage in Combating Gun Violence (1998); Los Angeles Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, Print Journalist of the Year Award (1992); Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award for Print Journalism (1990); first place in the Gordon Bennett Balloon Race (1986); and the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for editorial cartooning (1993, 1992, 1990 and 1985).
His books include Drawing the Line (Los Angeles Times, 1999), CONartist (Los Angeles Times, 1993), Drawn and Quartered (Harry N. Abrams, 1985), Pro and Conrad (Neff-Kane, 1979, distributed by Presidio Press), The King and Us (Clymer Publications, 1974) and When in the Course of Human Events with Malcolm Boyd (Sheed and Ward, Inc., 1973).
Wrote Shelby Coffey III, former Editor and Executive Vice President of the Los Angeles Times: "Whether loved or hated, agreed with or scoffed at, whether subject of glowing awards or winning an honored spot on the White House Enemies list, it's broadly agreed that Paul Conrad is, in his field of editorial cartooning, a genius."
His celebrated, limited-edition bronze sculptures of political leaders - which include Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, John Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. - have been exhibited at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Other major exhibitions include the Huntington Library (1995 and 1999), where the complete Conrad archive of originals, working sketches, notes and correspondence is kept. His work is also included in "American Treasures of the Library of Congress," an unprecedented permanent exhibition of the rarest and most significant items from the library's American history collection.
Born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 1924, Conrad started cartooning at the University of Iowa for the Daily Iowan. After receiving his B.A. in art in 1950, he worked for The Denver Post, where he spent 14 years before joining the Los Angeles Times. Conrad and his wife, Kay King, a former society writer for The Denver Post, have two sons and two daughters. They live in Palos Verdes, Calif.
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