Jack Ohman
Encyclopedia
Jack Ohman is an American
editorial cartoon
ist based in Portland, Oregon
. He has been The Oregonian
’s cartoonist since 1983 and his work is syndicated
nationwide to over 300 newspapers by Tribune Media Services
.
. At age 17, Ohman worked at the Minnesota Daily, the student newspaper of the University of Minnesota
. At age 19, Ohman was the youngest cartoonist ever to be nationally syndicated. His first daily newspaper job was at The Columbus Dispatch
, where he was hired in 1981. He then moved to the Detroit Free Press
in 1982, and went to The Oregonian in 1983.
Ohman was a regular art contributor to ABC News Nightline in 1984.
In 1986, through sales of copies of his cartoons about the space shuttle Challenger
accident, Ohman raised over $30,000 for the families of the astronauts. It was the fifth largest private donation in the United States. In 2001, he raised over $30,000 for the United Way September 11 Fund.
Ohman has an honors degree in U.S. history from Portland State University
. He is an adjunct associate professor of political science at the Mark O. Hatfield School of Government at Portland State University. He was a regular contributor to Foreign Policy
and Money
magazines. Ohman is also the creator of the syndicated comic strip
Mixed Media
, which he drew from 1994 to 1999 and which appeared in over 170 newspapers.
In 2006, Ohman was voted one of the top five cartoonists in the United States by the readers of The Week magazine.
, Chicago Tribune
, The Washington Post
, The Philadelphia Inquirer
, and The Seattle Times
. He has also been featured in many magazines and high-profile websites. Ohman is also a noted fly fishing
humorist, and has published four books on the subject, including the best-selling Fear of Fly Fishing, Get The Net, An Inconvenient Trout, and Angler Management, a book of essays. He has published 10 books overall.
Award from the Overseas Press Club
, the 2001 Harrison E. Salisbury
Award from the University of Minnesota
, the 2002 National Headliner Award, the 2009 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award (Cartoon category), and the 2010 Society of Professional Journalists Award.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
editorial cartoon
Editorial cartoon
An editorial cartoon, also known as a political cartoon, is an illustration containing a commentary that usually relates to current events or personalities....
ist based in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
. He has been The Oregonian
The Oregonian
The Oregonian is the major daily newspaper in Portland, Oregon, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 1850...
’s cartoonist since 1983 and his work is syndicated
Print syndication
Print syndication distributes news articles, columns, comic strips and other features to newspapers, magazines and websites. They offer reprint rights and grant permissions to other parties for republishing content of which they own/represent copyrights....
nationwide to over 300 newspapers by Tribune Media Services
Tribune Media Services
Tribune Media Services is a syndication company owned by the Tribune Company.The company has two divisions, "News and Features" and "Entertainment Products"...
.
Biography
Ohman worked as a political aide for the Minnesota Democratic Farmer Labor Party (DFL) during his high school years in MinnesotaMinnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. At age 17, Ohman worked at the Minnesota Daily, the student newspaper of the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
. At age 19, Ohman was the youngest cartoonist ever to be nationally syndicated. His first daily newspaper job was at The Columbus Dispatch
The Columbus Dispatch
The Columbus Dispatch is a daily newspaper based in Columbus, Ohio. Its first issue was published on July 1, 1871, and has been the only mainstream daily newspaper in the city since The Columbus Citizen-Journal stopped printing in 1985....
, where he was hired in 1981. He then moved to the Detroit Free Press
Detroit Free Press
The Detroit Free Press is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, USA. The Sunday edition is entitled the Sunday Free Press. It is sometimes informally referred to as the "Freep"...
in 1982, and went to The Oregonian in 1983.
Ohman was a regular art contributor to ABC News Nightline in 1984.
In 1986, through sales of copies of his cartoons about the space shuttle Challenger
Space Shuttle Challenger
Space Shuttle Challenger was NASA's second Space Shuttle orbiter to be put into service, Columbia having been the first. The shuttle was built by Rockwell International's Space Transportation Systems Division in Downey, California...
accident, Ohman raised over $30,000 for the families of the astronauts. It was the fifth largest private donation in the United States. In 2001, he raised over $30,000 for the United Way September 11 Fund.
Ohman has an honors degree in U.S. history from Portland State University
Portland State University
Portland State University is a public state urban university located in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1946, it has the largest overall enrollment of any university in the state of Oregon, including undergraduate and graduate students. It is also the only public university in...
. He is an adjunct associate professor of political science at the Mark O. Hatfield School of Government at Portland State University. He was a regular contributor to Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy is a bimonthly American magazine founded in 1970 by Samuel P. Huntington and Warren Demian Manshel.Originally, the magazine was a quarterly...
and Money
Money (magazine)
Money is published by Time Inc. Its first issue was published in October 1972. Its articles cover the gamut of personal finance topics ranging from investing, saving, retirement and taxes to family finance issues like paying for college, credit, career and home improvement...
magazines. Ohman is also the creator of the syndicated comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
Mixed Media
Mixed media
Mixed media, in visual art, refers to an artwork in the making of which more than one medium has been employed.There is an important distinction between "mixed-media" artworks and "multimedia art". Mixed media tends to refer to a work of visual art that combines various traditionally distinct...
, which he drew from 1994 to 1999 and which appeared in over 170 newspapers.
In 2006, Ohman was voted one of the top five cartoonists in the United States by the readers of The Week magazine.
Work
His work regularly appears in most major U.S. newspapers including The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
, The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer is a morning daily newspaper that serves the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, metropolitan area of the United States. The newspaper was founded by John R. Walker and John Norvell in June 1829 as The Pennsylvania Inquirer and is the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in the...
, and The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times is a newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, US. It is the largest daily newspaper in the state of Washington. It has been, since the demise in 2009 of the printed version of the rival Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle's only major daily print newspaper.-History:The Seattle Times...
. He has also been featured in many magazines and high-profile websites. Ohman is also a noted fly fishing
Fly fishing
Fly fishing is an angling method in which an artificial 'fly' is used to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. Casting a nearly weightless fly or 'lure' requires casting techniques significantly different from other forms of casting...
humorist, and has published four books on the subject, including the best-selling Fear of Fly Fishing, Get The Net, An Inconvenient Trout, and Angler Management, a book of essays. He has published 10 books overall.
Awards
Ohman has won the 1980 Sigma Delta Chi Mark of Excellence Award, the 1995 Thomas NastThomas Nast
Thomas Nast was a German-born American caricaturist and editorial cartoonist who is considered to be the "Father of the American Cartoon". He was the scourge of Boss Tweed and the Tammany Hall machine...
Award from the Overseas Press Club
Overseas Press Club
The Overseas Press Club of America was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The wire service reporter Carol Weld was a founding member...
, the 2001 Harrison E. Salisbury
Harrison Salisbury
Harrison Evans Salisbury , an American Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist , was the first regular New York Times correspondent in Moscow after World War II. He was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota...
Award from the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
, the 2002 National Headliner Award, the 2009 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award (Cartoon category), and the 2010 Society of Professional Journalists Award.
Books
- Back to the ’80s (1986)
- Drawing Conclusions (1987)
- Fear of Fly Fishing (1988)
- Fishing Bass-ackwards (1991)
- Why Johnny Can't Putt (1993)
- Media Mania (1995)
- Do I Have To Draw You A Picture? (1997)
- Get the Net! (1998)
- An Inconvenient Trout (2008)
- Angler Management (2009)
- Illustrator, Blowing Smoke: The Wild and Whimsical World of Cigars (1997), Brian McConnachie, author