PULITZER 2006: 'WHY?' is partly why artist won

By: Dave Astor How does editorial cartoonist Mike Luckovich feel about winning the Pulitzer Prize again after 11 years?

"It's just as thrilling the second time as the first," says The Atlanta Journal- Constitution artist.

In some ways, Luckovich adds, winning in 2006 is better than it was in 1995. He noted that three of his children are now at ages (19, 17, and 14) where they can appreciate Dad's prize more. His youngest daughter, who's 5, missed the first Pulitzer.

Luckovich, 46, feels his memorable Iraq War cartoon ? in which he spelled the word "WHY?" with the names of 2,000 American soldiers who had died in Iraq as of last October ? helped secure him the win this time around. "That was the first cartoon in my entry," recalls Luckovich, who submitted a total of 20 drawings.

"It was a very powerful cartoon," adds Margo Sugrue, national sales director of Creators Syndicate, which distributes Luckovich's work to more than 150 newspapers. "He obviously poured a lot of time and effort into it." The cartoonist spent more than 12 hours inking the drawing.

Six of the 20 cartoons Luckovich entered this year were on Iraq-related topics and four on Hurricane Katrina. Luckovich (profiled in E&P, December 2005) worked for The Times-Picayune in New Orleans before joining the Journal-Constitution in 1989.