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ccording To
Joshua
Political cartoonist Josh Weinberg
sees the world through
11-year-old eyes.
Josh Weinberg: 'I would add hats instead of coloring them in.'
E
MICHAEL WEISS
Special to The Jewish News
Leven can be a scary
age. As children be-
me aware of the vio-
lence and tragedy in
the world around them, many
escape to a fantasy world of
brightly colored heroes where
justice is served and good
always triumphs over evil.
Josh Weinberg doesn't hide
from reality. He draws about
it.
Weinberg, a sixth-grader at
Dunckel Middle School, is
making a name for himself as
one of the foremost — if not
only — 11-year-old political
cartoonists in the country.
In his brief but illustrious
career, Weinberg has won
both a local and a national
editorial cartooning , contest,
been published in several
newspapers and newsletters
and established connections
with a network of some of the
nation's top cartoonists.
"I remember when I was
very young I used to ask my
mom and dad to draw things
for me. They would, and I
would copy it, and mine
would turn out better," Josh
recalls.
And when other kids were
struggling to stay inside the
lines in their coloring books,
Weinberg wouldn't even
bother. "I would just add hats
and things to the pictures, in-
stead of coloring them in."
But it wasn't until last year
that his drawings acquired a
political bent.
Weinberg's career began
with an encounter with Bill
Day, an editorial cartoonist at
the Detroit Free Press. Josh
and his father, Max Weinberg,
went to a bookstore where
Day was promoting his books.
"We talked to him for about
half an hour. He was really
nice and encouraged me to
keep. drawing," Josh says.
That meeting inspired Josh
to turn his natural talent for
drawing toward politics. He
began sending copies of his
work to other cartoonists
around the country and ask-
ed them to send him sketches
of Ronald Reagan and George
Bush.
In the Free Press's editorial
cartooning contest last
February, Weinberg won first
place, beating out more than
4,000 opponents in the
5th-12th grades. His award-
winning cartoon was printed
on the Free Press's editorial
page and subsequently
reprinted in the newsletter of
the Association of American
Editorial Cartoonists.
Five months ago, Weinberg
and his father travelled to the
AAEC's annual convention in
Newport, R.I., where Josh
met many of his heroes face-
to-face for the first time.
Shortly after the conven-
tion, another one of
Weinberg's cartoons was
printed in the AAEC
newsletter.
In July, Weinberg tied for
third place in a national
Children's Art Contest spon-
sored by the Museum of Car-
toon Art in New York. His
winning entry was exhibited
in the museum through the
beginning of September.
Then, in mid-September, he
was published in The West
Virginia Hillbilly.
Weinberg says he gets his
ideas by reading other car-
toonist's work in the
newspaper. He usually draws
"about three a week," he says.
Cartooning isn't the only
thing in Weinberg's life — he's
also an avid Nintendo fan.
"I can see myself as a pro-
fessional illustrator, maybe
for a company like Disney, or
in advertising," he says. ❑
ore Gons Mean
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Poo ple ! !
(c)1989 Joshua Weinberg
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
33