The Wonderful World of Walt
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Walt Handelsman retired from editorial cartooning at the end of last year. He then compounded that affront by having the temerity not to do the traditional farewell cartoon.
Despite those sins we celebrate Walt’s worthy career which began in the very late 70s and early 1980s when he returned to the Baltimore area after college and started freelancing to various area newspapers. Then in 1982 he began contributing to the Whitney Communications group of community newspapers where he was quickly recognized with local awards.
The Early Years
In 1985 Kirk Walters left The Scranton Times for The Toledo Blade and The Times signed Handelsman as their new editorial cartoonist (Walt had three years earlier replaced that same Kirk at Whitney Communication).
In 1989 Walt headed south for New Orleans and The Times-Picayune. Before leaving Scranton he would snag the National Headliner Award in 1989 for his 1988 cartoons. In 1988 he signed with Tribune Media Services to distribute his cartoons to newspapers across the country.
The Hound and the Bureaucrat
As soon as he joined The Scranton Times Walt began a comic strip for the paper. The Bureaucrat and the Hound was a Sunday comic strip appearing on the op-ed pages, It ran from May 19, 1985 to August 20, 1989.
N’Orleans
In 1989 Handelsman packed up and moved south before the winter months set in. By September of that year he was on staff at The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune. Unfortunately I don;t have access to those archives. I can enjoy his cartoons through other papers that picked up Walt’s cartoons through Tribune Media Services.
Picayune ‘toons
While at Walt’s first stint with The Picayune-Times he created a local comic strip for that paper as he had for The Scranton Times. No idea of the running dates for Picayune ‘toons.
Pulitzer Prize #1
In 1997 Walt was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartoons from 1996 Times-Picayune pages.
North to Newsday
With the Spring of 2001 over Walt moves north to Long Island and Newsday.
Pulitzer Prize #2
Ten years after his first Pulitzer Walt was awarded his second Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning in 2007, this time for his cartoons that appeared in Newsday during 2006. And for his animation.
Back to New Orleans
Six and a half years later, in December 2013 Walt returned to New Orleans and The Advocate .
In 2019 owners of The Advocate bought The Times-Picayune and Walt once more worked for his old paper. Where he stayed until his retirement last month and bade his readers farewell (or here) in words and with a gallery of some of his favorite past cartoons.
As I bid adieu to daily editorial cartooning after 45 years, here’s a look back at some of my favorites from the early ‘90s to today. It has been a tremendous honor to have been a part of your daily morning newspaper routine.
Cartoon Caption Contest
Not sure when it began (May 2014?) but Walt and The Advocate/Times-Picayune ran a cartoon caption contest for years. It ended with Walt’s retirement last month.
We wish Walt the best in his future endeavors because as he told us on Facebook he ain’t done yet:
I’m looking forward to working on several new creative projects in 2026 and will keep you posted.
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