Comments on: Dave Astor laid off from Editor and Publisher

By: Stephanie Piro

Stephanie Piro — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 14:17:31 +0000

I was shocked to hear about this. Dave was the only reason I looked at E & P. He was knowledgable and supportive of cartoonists and our work. A real loss.

By: Mike Peterson

Mike Peterson — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 10:44:44 +0000

E&P’s reporter who’s not afraid to talk about being young and hip, Maegan Carberry, has a column about how young and hip reporters fear for a future in which good beat reporting is not respected. Seemed to me like a good spot to comment on their own decision to dump a solid beat reporter.

Since I couldn’t find an article on the E&P site about Dave’s departure, it appears to be the best place to voice an opinion there. I don’t think anybody in the outside world reads that blog, mind you, but the editors of the magazine do. I suppose. At least, the young, hip ones …

http://tinyurl.com/5ughoh

By: Guy Gilchrist

Guy Gilchrist — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 20:26:57 +0000

I truly hope that this is God opening another, brightly colored, and richly rewarding door. Dave is not only a great personal friend, but an exceptional friend to the all in the cartooning business, and all us Higgins Ink tattooed Cartoon Clubbers.

By: Quint Nelson

Quint Nelson — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 03:57:47 +0000

Editor & Publisher has slowly become irrelevant. With Mr Astor’s departure, it now is irrelevant.

By: Mike Peterson

Mike Peterson — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 01:18:28 +0000

Dave has, of course, been a constant source of information through his writing, but I’ve also (like many here) been interviewed by him and he was accurate and insightful. It adds to a reporter’s credibility when people can say, “He got my story right, so I’m going to assume he’s getting the others right as well.” No, that shouldn’t be rare, but this editor can tell you that it certainly is.

Well, the beancounters in this industry have no respect for quality. They’ve lost a good man, and so I suppose he’s better off not laboring for those who don’t appreciate him.

But I hope he lands somewhere we can all find him!

Now let’s all go listen to the latest podcast at E&P and read their new blog so they can show us how hip they are instead of telling us what’s going on in the industry.

By: Michael Cavna

Michael Cavna — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 22:41:21 +0000

Dave, you covered our business passionately, for a longer period of time, than anyone. If you land at another outlet or start your own operation, please send word: As a reader, I’ll follow you there.

By: Steve Greenberg

Steve Greenberg — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 22:24:25 +0000

Casey makes a good point. Alan, is there a way to utilize David’s talents here at dailycartoonist.com?

By: Casey Shaw

Casey Shaw — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:09:34 +0000

Wow. With all the bad news in the newspaper and magazine industry, this one really hits home. Best of luck Dave! And Alan, if I were you, I’d sign Dave up as a “Daily Cartoonist Guest Editor” as quickly as you can.

By: Jeff Darcy

Jeff Darcy — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:53:23 +0000

Quick, name another E&P writer……………
……………I can’t think of one either.

By: Larry Levine

Larry Levine — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:24:44 +0000

This is terrible news, what Jerry Beck is to animation news is what David Astor is to syndicated comics. A very sad professional loss to the industry.

Back in 1988 when I began reading E&P for syndicate news (when it was still a weekly magazine), David’s weekly strip profiles & cartoonist interviews were always brilliant and informative.