Wright, Don, 1934 October 22-

Donald Conway Wright (1934- ), professionally known as Don Wright, is an American editorial cartoonist who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1966 and 1980.

Don Wright was born January 23, 1934, in Los Angeles, California. When he was a child, his family moved across the country to Florida and he graduated from Miami Edison High School in 1952. Wright's interest in cartoons began when he took a job as copyboy with the Miami News (1952-1956). Although the News refused to move Wright to the art department, on the grounds he probably would be drafted from that job, they did allow him to become a photographer. Wright was subsequently drafted, served in the U.S. Army as a photographer and ultimately returned to the Miami News as graphics editor in December 1958.

Shortly after his rejoining the News, Wright resigned. Not wishing to lose Wright however, the News offered, as a compromise, to publish some of his cartoons. By 1963 Wright had transformed the original one or two cartoons per week, on local issues, into a regular appearance on the editorial page.

Wright won his first Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning in 1966 for his cartoon titled "You Mean You Were Bluffing?". He won the award again in 1980. Wright has also been recognized with the National Headliners Club Award (1969, 1972, 1980, 1982) and is a two-time winner of the Distinguished Service Award from Sigma Delta Chi. Wright has won five awards from the Overseas Press Club and he received a Robert F. Kennedy journalism award in 1983. The National Cartoonists Society named Wright the best editorial cartoonist in 1985. His work has been collected in the books Wright On! A Collection of Political Cartoons (1971) and Wright Side Up (1981).

His work has been syndicated by the Washington (DC) Star Syndicates and the New York Times Syndicate. In 1989, Wright moved to the Palm Beach Post, where he remained until his retirement in August 2008. As of 2009 he continues to draw cartoons distributed by Tribune Media Services.

From the guide to the Don Wright Papers, 1963-1968, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)