Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist Tom Toles announced his retirement in one final cartoon after 50 years.
According to his goodbye comic, simply titled, "Final TOLES Cartoon," the 69-year-old cartoonist drew 15,000 cartoons over the course of his career. Toles's long-haired persona is seen drafting this last message to readers with the same progressive political views (and hair) he had when he began in college.
Toles graduated from the University at Buffalo and began writing for The Buffalo-Courier Express. Toles then moved onto The Buffalo News for many years with his comic strips Randolph Itch, 2 AM and Curious Avenue before accepting an offer to replace legendary cartoonist Herblock at The Washington Post in 2002. In 1985, he would be one of the finalists for the Pulitzer Prize ahead of his eventual win in 1990.
In later years, Toles also published a collection of his work as well as The Madhouse Effect, a book about global warming with co-author Michael E. Mann. By the end of his illustrious career behind the drafting table, he was featured in 200 newspapers.
His political cartoons appeared in The Washington Post for eighteen years. The announcement came as a shock to those awaiting the cartoonist's feelings toward the upcoming presidential election. Toles takes three middle panels to offer a few insights on subjects including the seriousness of the upcoming election as well as the threats of climate change and artificial intelligence before signing off one last time.
Toles ends the farewell cartoon stating, "Old cartoonists never die. They merely disappear into the eraser crumbs."
Source: Facebook, The Washington Post