Cartoon(s) of the Year: Crain's Detroit Business

Crain's Detroit Business - Dec. 19

It's a privilege and a blessing to be a part of the Crain Communications editorial family. I'm fortunate to have been writing and drawing editorial cartoons for Crain's Detroit Business for more than 25 years, and each deadline is as exciting and energizing as it was when I first started.

I have many editors to thank for their guidance, collaboration - and editing - over the decades; and without the inspiration of the outstanding CDB reporting staff, there would be no cartoon material. I also am thankful for my readers throughout metro Detroit who take a look at my work and laugh, or grimace, or take the time to contact me and tell me how far I've missed the mark!

Crain's Detroit Business published the annual collection of my cartoons for the year this week, and I'm grateful that this has become a year-end feature. I hope when you take a look, that you will realize not only how much I love this work, but how much I love my hometown.

Here's 2016 in review - laugh, grimace, or let me know I missed the mark: Crain's editorial cartoons year in review

Happy New Year, Detroit!

Cartoon of the Week: Thankful for ... Everything!

The News-Herald, November 23

This is my annual Thanksgiving Day editorial cartoon for The News-Herald - I'm thankful for the topics, the News-Herald staff members, and especially my Downriver readers - all of whom have sustained me for another year (my 30th penning cartoons for The News-Herald)!

My thankfulness this season extends to my family, my friends, my colleagues, my neighbors in my hometown of Royal Oak, and my fellow parishioners at Guardian Angels Catholic Community. I'm thankful for every blessing, for the joy each brings to my life; and I try to be thankful for every challenge, and for what I learn from persevering.

I wish you all happiness, good health and much to be thankful for this year!
That's the Point!

Cartoon of the Day: 9-11

The News-Herald - September 11


 

"Where were you when the first plane hit?" "What did you think happened when you first heard?" "What did you tell your kids?" These and other questions have be asked today, the 15th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S. While the answers to these questions are personal, the memory is collective. Let's remember those who lost their lives and their families, let's remember the survivors who still struggle with their memories, and let's remember the sense of unity that our nation shared in the aftermath of this tragedy.
That's the Point.

Cartoon of the Year: Thank you CDB and SPJ!

Crain's Detroit Business - December 7, 2015

 

Thank you to my colleagues at Crain's Detroit Business, thank you to SPJ Detroit, and thank you to all my readers in metro Detroit for this humbling honor that I received last night. To grow up in Detroit and, at this point in my life and career, see a special award like this - from such a prestigious organization as SPJ - that reads, "First Place ... Editorial Cartoon, Daniel Saad, Crain's Detroit Business" is, well (I should be able to come up with something more clever than this!), unbelievable.

For more than 30 years, I've had the opportunity and the privilege to do editorial cartoons in my own back yard, at The Advisor Newspaper, The Advertiser Journal, The Daily Tribune (and Suburban Sunday), The Grosse Pointe News, The Dearborn Press & Guide; and I'm honored to still be penning them for Crain's Detroit Business (20 years this June), and The News-Herald (30 years in May).

Thanks go to every editor who has given me space and collaborated with me, to every reporter who has inspired my cartoons with their coverage, and to the readers in every community who have embraced my work and offered feedback (both positive and negative) - it's all contributed to making my work better.

Lastly, my special thanks go to Draper Hill and Larry Wright. These incredibly gifted cartoonists took the time to encourage me, critique me and finally welcome me as a colleague; which was the greatest "lifetime achievement award" someone like me can get.

Well, every editor I've worked for will be looking at this post now and saying, "Cut it by half - nobody's going to read all that!" Nonetheless, I hope you have read this far, because without everyone and every publication mentioned above, none of this would have been possible.
That's the Point!

Cartoon of the Week: Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?

The News-Herald - March 13

Do you know what time it is? Did you "spring forward?" (... even though spring is days away.) Really, are we "saving" daylight in today's 24/7, online, connected culture by moving our clocks ahead each March? If we're going to continue with this "DST" nonsense, let's at least admit that the acronym stands for "Daylight Shifting Time!"
That's the Point!

Cartoons of the Week: Leap Day!

Crain's Detroit Business - February 22

The News-Herald - February 28
 

With Leap Year (and Leap Day) aligned with a presidential election year like this one, it's hard to consider the extra day a bonus, isn't it? Here are two takes on the subject, from my Crain's Detroit Business cartoon of Monday, February 22 and my News-Herald cartoon of Sunday, February 28. Hang on, readers - it's gonna' be a long (extra) day!
That's the Point!

Cartoon of the Day: "Play Ball!"

The News-Herald - February 17

There's no more welcome sign of the coming spring than the phrase "pitchers and catchers report." Lakeland may be 1,170 miles from Detroit via I-75, but just knowing the pitchers and catchers are there stretching and getting ready for spring training warms millions of hearts in the metro Detroit area. Tigers fans, it won't be long until, "... the voice of the turtle is heard in the land!"
That's the Point!

Cartoon of the Day: Happy Valentine's Day!

The News-Herald - February 14

I penned this for my readers Downriver, but it applies to everyone - I wish you a happy, old-fashioned Valentine's Day with lots of love!
That's the Point!

Cartoon of the Week: 'We are in a risky business'

The Daily Tribune - January 30, 1986

This cartoon is from my days as the staff editorial cartoonist at The Daily Tribune, in Royal Oak, taken from a page of my 1989 book, "Out of the Inkpot and Into the Fire." The news of the Challenger disaster cast a pall over the Trib newsroom and it took me a couple of days to collect my thoughts and draw a tribute that included some ray of hope. I chose to quote Gus Grissom, one of my childhood heroes and one of the original Mercury astronauts, who died with crewmates Ed White and Roger Chaffee aboard Apollo 1 in January 1967. His words, spoken after he was rescued from his sinking "Liberty Bell 7" Mercury capsule; "... worth the risk ..." seemed appropriate, since they were spoken by someone who would know.

Off the Drawing Board: A footnote to this cartoon - it resulted in a surprising reaction by dozens of Trib readers, who protested with calls and letters to the editor, shaming us for printing a cartoon with a "laughing astronaut" following the Challenger disaster. Negative response was so strong, I felt compelled to write an explanatory column the following week and apologize for the misunderstanding. (My first and only response of that nature in my nearly 40 years of editorial cartooning.)

I hope the meaning is clear to readers with this reprint, 30 years later.
That's the Point!



Cartoon of the Week: The Forest Will Always Be There

The News-Herald - January 17

"But of course it isn't really good-bye, because the forest will always be there ... and anybody who is friendly with bears can find it," said Christopher Robin to Pooh. Our small, nearby forests are magical places - cherish them, care for them, experience the magic.
That's the Point!