Washington State Cartoonist Laureate

This announcement was sent yesterday to my email. One of Washington State's last ditch efforts to keep culture alive as we all slide into the New Dark Ages:

POET LAUREATE APPLICATIONS SOUGHT

Applications are now being accepted for the 2012 – 2014 Washington State Poet Laureate position. The Poet Laureate serves to build awareness and appreciation of poetry – including the state’s legacy of poetry – through public readings, workshops, lectures, and presentations in communities, schools, colleges and universities, and other public settings across the state. The selected Poet Laureate will develop a two-year plan of activities, in consultation with the Washington State Arts Commission and Humanities Washington.

Qualified applicants must meet the following eligibility requirements:

· Be a current resident of the state of Washington;

· Have had at least one full-length book of poetry published by an established press;

· Be engaged in the poetry community;

· Be willing and able to promote poetry and the legacy of poetry throughout Washington State for a two-year period.

Applications must be submitted electronically no later than 5:00 p.m. PST on November 30, 2011. For more information about the Washington State Poet Laureate program, including application criteria and guidelines, or to submit an application, visit www.washingtonpoetlaureate.org or contact Julie Ziegler, Executive Director, Humanities Washington, at julie@humanities.org, 206.682.1770 x 110; or Kris Tucker, Executive Director, Washington State Arts Commission, at kris.tucker@arts.wa.gov, 360.753.3860.

OK, so I am providing this news release both as announcement for the few poets who read this blog and an opportunity to promote the idea of a Washington State Cartoonist Laureate.

In modifying the above guidelines to fit the world of cartooning, my nomination for Washington State Cartoonist Laureate would be the legendary Bob Cram, cartooning weatherman.

In the early 1960s, when he replaced cartooning weatherman Bob Hale on KING-TV in Seattle, Bob instantly became one of my cartoon heroes. In that early, primitive era of live local TV, Bob was second only to J.P. Patches in influencing us budding Boomer cartoonists in Puget Sound.

I loved the way he made cartooning seem so easy and improvisational as he enhanced the weather report with his comic illustrations. He actually flew as he drew. I'm sure I am not the only local comix artist Bob influenced. And he's a long time Washingtonian and part of our cultural history.

I nominate Bob Cram for Washington State Cartoonist Laureate!

[Update: Just had a nice phone conversation with Bob Cram. It is fitting that I had already put out the flag on my front porch honoring vets and was able to thank him for his WWII service. Bob is still cartooning to this day! Go Bob, very inspirational!]