Don Wright, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist whose sharp work challenged dishonesty and arrogance, and resonated with practical readers, passed away on March 24 at his residence in Palm Beach, Florida. He was 90.
His wife, Carolyn Wright, also a journalist, confirmed his death.
Over his 45-year career, Mr. Wright created around 11,000 cartoons for The Miami News, which closed in 1988, and later for The Palm Beach Post, where he worked until his retirement in 2008. His cartoons reached a wide audience beyond Florida, appearing in newspapers across the country through syndication.
Mr. Wright’s cartoons were known for taking a stand, particularly against issues such as the Vietnam War; Israel’s military support for the pro-apartheid regime in South Africa; sexual abuse by clergy; the John Birch Society; and racial segregationists like the Ku Klux Klan.
The day after winning his first Pulitzer Prize in 1966, Mr. Wright received a telegram from George C. Wallace, the segregationist governor of Alabama, who remarked, “Sometimes even the meanest cartoonists are unaccountably decorated for their work. If the shoe fits, wear it.” Mr. Wright cherished the framed telegram in his home.
His first Pulitzer-winning cartoon, published during the Cold War, depicted two men in rags meeting on a desolate, bomb-cratered landscape. “You mean,” one asks the other, “you were bluffing?”
In 1980, his Pulitzer-winning cartoon showed two Florida State prison guards carrying a corpse away from the electric chair. One guard asks, “Why did the governor say we’re doing this?” The other responds, “To make it clear we value human life.”
Aside from winning Pulitzers, Mr. Wright was also a finalist five times and authored three books, including “Wright On! A Collection of Political Cartoons” (1971) and “Wright Side Up” (1981).
His cartoons were syndicated by The Washington Star, The New York Times, and Tribune Media Services.
Despite the meticulous effort he put into his cartoons, Mr. Wright often mentioned that the cartoon that received the strongest response from readers was a sentimental one he created after Walt Disney’s death in 1966. It depicted Disney characters in tears.
Lillian Disney, Mr. Disney’s widow, requested the original drawing for the cartoon, which she bequeathed to the Library of Congress upon her death in 1997.
In 1989, The New Yorker reported that Mr. Wright, along with other American cartoonists, inspired Chinese intellectuals and businessmen to support the student uprising in Tiananmen Square that year.
Donald Conway Wright was born on January 23, 1934, in Los Angeles to Charles and Evelyn Wright. His father worked as an airline maintenance supervisor, while his mother managed the household.
The Wright family relocated to Florida when Don was young. With a passion for drawing, he applied for a job in the art department of The Miami News after graduating from Edison High School in Miami in 1952. Although he loved cartoons, he was hired for the photo department and given a camera.
He captured iconic images like Fidel Castro entering Havana, Elvis Presley, Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali), and Senator John F. Kennedy during his early career.
Self-taught in photography and illustration, Mr. Wright combined the precision of a photographer with the creativity of an illustrator.
His wife, Carolyn Wright, a former reporter at The Miami News, recalled his constant drawing and sketching.
After serving in the Army, Mr. Wright returned to The Miami News and eventually transitioned to publishing his cartoons on the editorial page. In 1989, he joined The Palm Beach Post, owned by Cox Newspapers like The Miami News.
In addition to his wife, Mr. Wright is survived by his younger brother, David.
Mr. Wright admitted that not every cartoon he created was a hit.
“You’re on a deadline,” he explained in a 1994 interview with The New York Times, “and sometimes you have to settle for a cliché.”
Upon retiring from The Palm Beach Post, Mr. Wright clarified that while his cartoons often had humor, his main objective was not to entertain.
“I’m sometimes puzzled by readers who expect cartoons to be light and amusing,” Mr. Wright remarked. “Humor comes in many forms, and my focus is on serious issues like war, corruption, unemployment, and other pressing matters.”
“Think about it,” he added. “How funny are those?”
