Cartoonist Doug Marlette Killed in Crash

[Burma Jones]

Source: AP

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Doug Marlette, the North Carolina-born cartoonist who won a Pulitzer Prize and created the popular strip ''Kudzu,'' was killed in a car accident Tuesday morning in Mississippi, authorities said. He was 57.

Marlette, who joined the Tulsa (Okla.) World last year, was the passenger in the car, which struck a tree after skidding on a rain-slicked road, said John Garrison, the coroner in Mississippi's Marshall County.

''Evidently, it hydroplaned, left the highway and struck the tree,'' Garrison said.

Marlette's editorial cartoons and his strip, ''Kudzu,'' are syndicated worldwide. The ''Kudzu'' strip deals humorously with rural Southern life, featuring characters such as the Rev. Will B. Dunn.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Obit-Marlette.html

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One of my favorite cartoonists killed today....

[TheCowsCameHome]

1. Very sad - a talented and popular cartoonist, he will be missed.

RIP, Mr. Marlette.

[BOSSHOG]

2. I'm not familiar with his work

but that is very sad. Mississippi is a scary place to drive; especially on the smaller highways out in the sticks (which is most of the state.)

[Octafish]

24. Here are a few examples, Chief...

There's another work in my reply below.

His passing is a real loss for the good guys.

[DrRang]

31. True. I grew up one county over from Marshall. Curvy two-lanes with lotsa deer on the road, trees.

[zabet]

3. ...................

One of my favorites also. :cry::cry::cry:

[redqueen]

4. ...

:(

[yodermon]

5. oh fuck no no no no no no

mike collins interviews him all the time here in charlotte on NPR, local talk radio
i can't believe this
oh fuck
sorry

[Warpy]

6. NO!!!!!!!

He was one of my all time favorites. I will never forget the strips he did during the whole Bakker scandal and empire collapse, and I'll always be grateful for his pen dipped in acid at that time.

My favorite strip was Will B. Dunn asking god for a sign about how likely his theme park was to survive. Last panel showed the devil popping up through a trap door with a snowball in his hand.

His strip kept me in touch with the parts of the south that I enjoyed and missed when I moved up to Boston. He will be missed.

[yodermon]

7. Won pulitzers back in the 80s

here's one:

[Alexander]

16. That cartoon is still horribly relevant.

Nice to see things have changed in 20 years.

:sarcasm:

[Dogmudgeon]

8. Another good guy, gone.

Damn.

--p!

[MissB]

9. Damn.

[Pastiche423]

10. OMG!

I used to date Doug, right as he began to sell his toons to the Charlotte Observer.

[villager]

11. Goddamnit.

n/t

[supernova]

12. Oh man, he's lived here in Hillsborough the past few years

in a really lovely place. I didn't know him personally, but I did enjoy his work.

So sad. :-( My condolences to his family.

[mitchum]

13. Oh no...he was quite funny and a really nice guy

damn it
Rest In Peace, Mr Marlette

[taterguy]

14. Met him once he was really nice guy

His novel the Bridge is absolutely great. It deals with a hidden history of the Labor movement in North Carolina, along with several other strange and entertaining twists

[UTUSN]

15. Oh, noooo. He skewered Fundies and other phonies skilfully. n/t

[slampoet]

17. DAMN. He was one of the good ones.

[here_is_to_hope]

18. .................

[Rhythm]

19. RIP, Doug...

[flamingyouth]

20. He was a great author too.

This is very sad news. I'm so sorry to hear it. :(

[stanwyck]

21. I knew him when I worked at The Charlotte Observer

years ago. He was a sweet guy who loved the ladies! He played the banjo, drove a Porsche, and seemed to be just a gentle country boy. But he had a disarming wit, too.

[lapfog_1]

27. Did you know any of the owners of the paper?

my brother-in-law (now ex) was FAD-III.

Just wondering.

Sorry to hear about Doug Marlette. RIP.

[stanwyck]

30. No. I'm trying to dredge up the

name of our publisher...Rolfe Neil? Something like that. The Observer was, I believe, a Gannett paper at that time. I was there for about a year before moving to Atlanta. It was fun. Very nice people. I only saw the big bosses at a couple of parties. But I did get to know Doug Marlette well. He was a good guy.

[indepat]

22. I recently traded in the original equipment tires on my Caravan at 3,000 miles in fear

of having an accident such a this after hydroplaning the first time the car was driven on a wet hwy. Got nothing for the "old tires" except a charge of $4.50 for disposing those dangerous suckers. The $450 for a set of Michelins was the best money ever spent.

[Octafish]

23. A top cartoonist...

...and a good man.



He spoke on NPR about cartooning a few years back.

I will miss him and his work.

[onenote]

25. damn.

[karlrschneider]

26. Horrible news. I knew him casually years ago.

RIP, Doug. :cry:

[shenmue]

28. Sorry to hear it

Rest in peace. :cry:

[aquart]

29. My most utterly insane belief

Is that an anti-Bush journalist dies whenever Bush has something to celebrate. He just had a birthday.

This is crazy. Pro-Bush journalists die all the time, don't they? But we just don't notice them? I'm completely nuts. Right?