David Horsey should send Bill Clinton a thank you note. The president's travails of the past year have provided unusually rich material for Horsey's editorial cartoons, published daily in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (P-I). Now his scathing cartoons have earned Horsey the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Editorial Cartoons.

After David Horsey (far right) learned that he had won a Pulitzer Prize, his colleagues at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer rejoiced. Photo by Meryl Schenker. Reprinted with permission, Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

"Winning the Pulitzer Prize is a great satisfaction," says Horsey, who earned his B.A. in communications from the UW in 1976. "It's like getting to the top of a mountain after a tough climb. Of course, once you win this, you're very close to being a has-been."

Not likely. Horsey is in top form, with his syndicated cartoons appearing in more than 450 papers nationwide. In addition to the Pulitzer, he's won top awards from the National Press Foundation and the Society of Professional Journalists this year.

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From The Daily to the P-I
Horsey has always had an interest in politics and in art. By high school, he'd figured out how to combine both interests as an editorial cartoonist. Still, after graduating from the UW, he worked a newspaper reporter before joining the P-I as an editorial cartoonist.

An Insider's Perspective
Horsey has attended major events ranging from the Olympics to presidential primary to remained informed and keep his cartoons fresh.

Choosing Metaphors Carefully
Recognizing that his cartoons may sometimes anger people, Horsey says, "I have to choose my metaphors carefully."

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The College's Other Pulitzer Cartoonist
Mike Luckovich, '82, won the Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Editorial Cartoons in 1995.

[Summer 1999 - Table of Contents]