Cartoon Auction at Charity Event

By: Dave Astor The 17th annual "Cartoons & Cocktails" auction will be held Thursday night at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

More than 150 original cartoons will be sold. Proceeds will benefit the Cartoonists Rights Network, which assists international cartoonists who face threats, prison, or death for their commentary; Young D.C., the newspaper by and for D.C., Maryland, and Virginia teens; the Young D.C. scholarship for an aspiring editorial cartoonist; and the National Press Club's Ellen Masin Persina Scholarship for Minorities in Journalism.

This year's honorary chair is Matt Davies, the 2004 Pulitzer Prize winner for The Journal News in White Plains, N.Y., and Tribune Media Services, as well as president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. He is scheduled to appear at the event along with other cartoonists such as Tom Toles of The Washington Post and Universal Press Syndicate; Kevin "Kal" Kallaugher of The Sun in Baltimore and Cartoonists & Writers Syndicate (marketed by the New York Times Syndicate); and Clay Jones of The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, Va., and Creators Syndicate.

The event begins 6 p.m.