By: Dave Astor Editorial cartoonist John Sherffius resigned from the
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, saying he enjoyed his five years there but that his work was no longer a good fit for the newspaper.
"It was my decision," said Sherffius, when reached by E&P Online Wednesday. He declined to elaborate on why he made that decision, but both he and a
Post-Dispatch spokesman said ideological reasons were not involved.
"John is obviously a liberal cartoonist and we're a liberal editorial page," said Matt Davis, media relations manager for the paper.
The departure was amicable, according to Davis and Sherffius, whose last cartoon ran Tuesday.
Sherffius will continue self-syndicating editorial cartoons to other clients -- doing three or four a week rather than the six he did for the
Post-Dispatch -- and also work on a comic, illustrations, and a children's book. And the award-winning artist -- who plans to remain in the St. Louis area -- is looking forward to spending more time with his kids (ages 5 and 3). Sherffius is married to Stephanie Simon, a Midwest correspondent for the
Los Angeles Times.
Will he eventually seek a full-time editorial cartooning position again? "I won't rule it out, though I know how difficult those jobs are to get," said Sherffius, 41. "I love the field. I'm very committed to editorial cartooning."
The
Post-Dispatch will publish syndicated cartoons until hiring a replacement for Sherffius sometime next year, said Editorial Page Editor Christine Bertelson in a memo posted Wednesday on
Romenesko. Bertelson also wrote a Wednesday note to
Post-Dispatch readers in which she praised Sherffius for "the level of his draftsmanship and the boldness of his images."
Sherffius was hired from the
Ventura County (Calif.)
Star in 1998 partly on the recommendation of a panel of four Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonists Bertelson convened from other newspapers. Will a similar panel be used again? Bertelson couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday, and Davis said a decision about that has yet to be made.
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