Doug Marlette (1949–2007)

Really loved the grandma, Mama Lucy, with her feisty attitude toward her family, her previous life during the strike. Pick was a interesting type of person holding attitudes from his past, his not understanding why his mother was taken from his home, blaming Mama Lucy for his childhood version of life. Enjoyed his humor as a cartoonist, the hill-billy behavior of his relatives was almost too cliche. Amazing how his new home became an aspect of the past. Enjoyed the connection to real life events from NC, his descriptions fit the area.… (more)

Pick Cantrell is a Pulitzer-winning editorial cartoonist, who has moved from his native central NC to NYC. When he punches out his obnoxious boss and loses his job, his wife insists on moving them back to NC. Pick must now deal with his huge extended family, especially his grandmother, Mama Lucy. Over time he learns of his family's role in events of the 1930s, when mill owners' treatment of employees led to the labor movement. The story moves back and forth between the present recollections of the thirties. Pick's relationships with his grandmother, his wife, and others are affected.

Marlette's story is thorough in its detail and requires a steady, unrushed pace of reading after the first chapter. It rewards patience with insight and a fulfilling story that involves repeated revelations and recasting of the historical context. The ending is almost too sweet, but it worked for me because most of the characters have enough to them to interest me in their fates.… (more)

A collection of Doug Marlette's editorial cartoons from the Reagan years. Marlette won the Pulitzer prize for his cartoons, and was also the creator of a pretty decent comic strip, "Kudzu". His editorial cartoons are better, and were probably pretty hard-hitting for the time. Pg. 86-87 has his explanation of the events leading up to his 45-minute deadline creation of probably his single most requested reprint, a reaction to the Challenger explosion, showing an American eagle gazing into the heavens, with a single tear falling from its eye. I missed this one at the time, but it must have had a powerful impact. Regrettably, he died at 57 in 2007.… (more)