Darling, Ding (1876-1962), was an American editorial cartoonist. During the Great Depression of the 1930’s, his work often ridiculed the relief programs of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Darling won the Pulitzer Prize for cartooning in 1924 and 1943.
Jay Norwood Darling was born Oct. 21, 1876, in Norwood, Michigan and was nicknamed Ding while a student at Beloit College in Wisconsin. He became a cartoonist for the Sioux City (Iowa) Journal in 1901 and joined the Des Moines Register in 1906. From 1917 until his retirement from the Register in 1949, the New York Tribune (later called the Herald Tribune) distributed his cartoons to newspapers across the United States. In addition to politics, Darling also took a strong interest in the conservation of natural resources. Many of his cartoons criticize those who threaten wildlife. Darling died on Feb. 12, 1962. After his death, the J. N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge opened on Sanibel Island, Florida.
