Herbert Lawrence Block
Pulitzer Prize Winning Editorial Cartoonist

Recently deceased Herbert Lawrence Block was a thoughtful journalist and gifted cartoonist, who was universally admired for his integrity. Editorial cartoons signed "Herblock" are among the best known in the United States. Herbert Block, who condensed his signature name to Herblock, started his career at the Chicago Daily News in 1929 and has made pointed comments on the American scene, values and politics ever since.

Block’s powerful observations during the depression and before World War II, opposed isolationism, racism, and all forms of social injustice, and his cartoons critical of the privileged, of political arrogance, of foreign dictators and domestic demagogues, won Pulitzer Prizes in 1942, 1954 and 1979 and in 1973 he shared in the Washington Post’s Service Pulitzer for its work on Watergate. Herblock cartoons have appeared in the Washington Post since 1946 and are syndicated throughout the world.

One of the first members of the first chapter of The Newspaper Guild-CWA, Block's progressive viewpoint dates back to the beginnings of his career during the Depression. His cartoons frequently contrast the plight of working people to the advantages enjoyed by the wealthy and powerful. "Sheltered from economic hardships by his steady income, he observed the suffering around him and used his editorial panel as a vehicle for progressive reform." (Curator Harry Katz, Library of Congress, Information Bulletin, October 2000.) Block says, "My father and mother felt that you should simply be a good citizen and think about the other guy" (Katz).

Block’s career spans eight decades and 13 American presidents — from Hoover to G.W. Bush. During high school, Block drew cartoons and wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper. He worked briefly as a reporter before enrolling in Lake Forest College in Illinois, where he majored in English and Political Science. Near the end of his sophomore year in 1929, he got a job at the Chicago Daily News replacing the editorial cartoonist and left school. After service in the Army during World War II as a cartoonist and writer, he joined the Washington Post in 1946.

The Library of Congress recently honored Herbert Block’s work with a major exhibition called "Herblock’s History: Political Cartoons from the Crash to the Millennium" (October 2000, through February of 2001.) Harry Katz commented on Block’s reputation for editorial independence: "A thoughtful journalist and gifted cartoonist, he is universally admired for his integrity."

Collections of his cartoons include The Herblock Book (1952), The Herblock Gallery (1968), Herblock’s State of the Union (1972), Herblock’s Special Report (1974), Herblock on All Fronts (1980) and six other books. His autobiography is Herblock: A Cartoonist’s Life (1993 and 1998).