BOB MANKOFF

CARTOON EDITOR OF THE NEW YORKER

January 31st.

 

On Thursday, January 31st, Bob Mankoff, cartoon editor of The New Yorker , will speak to the Y's Men of Westport/Weston. His subject is “The One Hour New Yorker Cartoon Course”. The meeting begins at 10AM at the Saugatuck Congregational Church, 245 Post Road East.

Bob Mankoff, cartoon editor of The New Yorker and president of The Cartoon Bank, is one of the nation's leading commentators on the role of humor in American politics, business, and life. Mankoff appears frequently on network talk shows such as “This Week” with George Stephanopoulos,” “CBS Sunday Morning,” “Nightline,” “Today,” and “Good Morning America”; cable TV networks such as Discovery Health, CNN and CNBC and syndicated radio programs.

Mankoff has edited dozens of cartoon books, published four of his own, and is an accomplished cartoonist. In fact, over 800 of his cartoons have been published in The New Yorker over the past 20 years, including the best-selling New Yorker cartoon of all time (the harried businessman at his desk with a phone to his ear, reviewing his calendar and saying: “No, Thursday's out, how about never. Is never good for you?”) He is the author of The Naked Cartoonist , a book published in 2003 on the creative process behind developing magazine-style cartoons.

He has embarked on a three-year partnership with the University of Michigan to conduct a wide range of social science experiments to understand better the role of humor in such areas as psychology, economics and sociology.

He is a successful entrepreneur: in 1991, he took out a small business loan and started The Cartoon Bank, a business devoted to licensing cartoons for use in newsletters, textbooks, magazines and other media.  The Cartoon Bank initially licensed material that was not published by The New Yorker . In 1997, The New Yorker purchased The Cartoon Bank from Mankoff, giving The Cartoon Bank access to all cartoons published in the magazine over the past eight decades. That same year, Mankoff was named cartoon editor of The New Yorker .

Mankoff graduated from Syracuse University 's College of Arts and Sciences in 1966, and then entered the doctoral program at City University of New York to pursue a degree in experimental psychology.  At age 30, just short of completing his dissertation, Mankoff decided to use his know-how in a new way: as a cartoonist.

In 1977, Mankoff spent four months creating hundreds of original cartoons, and then started submitting them to magazines throughout New York City .  It took more than a year to break into The New Yorker –perhaps the most prestigious outlet for a cartoonist–and within three years became a regular contributor, as he is today.

He lives in Hastings-On-Hudson , New York , with his wife, Cory, and two children.

For more information about the Y's Men, contact Bill Meyer, Membership Chairman at 226-3704 or Bob Fatherley, President at 454-3653 or visit their website: www.ysmenwestportweston