Block, Herbert Lawrence (1909-2001), was a famous American editorial cartoonist who signed his work Herblock. He won the Pulitzer Prize for cartooning in 1942, 1954, and 1979.
Block was born on Oct. 13, 1909, in Chicago. He received a scholarship to the Art Institute of Chicago when he was only 12 years old. As a teenager, Block worked as a reporter for the Chicago City News Bureau. He attended Lake Forest College for two years and in 1929 became an editorial cartoonist for the Chicago Daily News. In 1933, he joined the Newspaper Enterprise Association as a syndicated cartoonist. In 1946, Block joined The Washington Post. Block gained nationwide prominence in the 1950’s for cartoons criticizing Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, who charged, with little evidence, that many individuals were Communists. Creators Syndicate began distributing Block’s cartoons to various publications in 1987.
Several books of Block’s cartoons and comments on the news have been published. Herblock Special Report (1974) features more than 450 cartoons dealing with President Richard M. Nixon. Block’s autobiography, Herblock: A Cartoonist’s Life (1993), includes favorite cartoons by the author. Block died on Oct. 7, 2001.
