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| 1964 Ritenour graduate, Mike Keefe |
"Mike Keefe was the editorial cartoonist for The Denver Post from 1975 through late 2011. His work continues in syndication. Throughout the nineties he was a weekly contributor to USA Today and a regular on America Online. Nationally syndicated, his cartoons have appeared in Europe, Asia and in most major U.S. news magazines and hundreds of newspapers across the country. Keefe’s animations have appeared on broadcast TV, the internet and CD-ROM magazines.
He has won top honors in the Fischetti, National Headliners Club, Society of Professional Journalists and Best of the West contests. He was a John S. Knight Fellow at Stanford University and is a past president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. He was a juror for the 1997 and 1998 Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism. He won the Pulitzer himself in 2011.” *
A very impressive resume to say the least, but Mike didn't spend his youth in a privileged environment and his career path was never guided by affluent parents with high-level business connections. In fact, he had to work very hard to overcome tragic family circumstances and create opportunities for himself. His talent and insight were shaped by overcoming hardship and putting his sense of adventure to practice. His incredible self-reliance is briefly explained in two excerpts from a profile written about Mike, by Charles McNamara:
"His brother died at age two and a half, devastating his mom and forcing his father, Ray Keefe, to find ways to care for her while earning a living. Running out of resources, he took the family back to California to be closer to other family. It didn’t work. The Keefe family fell apart. Mike, at age 17, was on his own and started wandering. Mike’s two sisters were put in foster homes. He lost contact with his family for years. His father cared for his wife until she died in 1971. Ray died in 1980.
Keefe hitchhiked across America for a couple of years, worked for a year at the Chevrolet plant in Leeds, a suburb of Kansas City and then was drafted into the Marine Corps. After his discharge, using the GI Bill, he went to the Univ. of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) and earned a Bachelor’s, Master’s and completed the coursework for a PhD in mathematics."
"While studying at UMKC, Keefe started drawing cartoons for the University News. He became friends with Bill Sanders, cartoonist at The Milwaukee Journal. Sanders heard that Pat Oliphant, editorial cartoonist for The Denver Post, had taken a new job. He wrote a referral letter about Keefe to the Post who hired him in 1975. At that point he had drawn about 50 cartoons." **
One would think that being a world renowned editorial cartoonist would be enough for one man, but after contacting Mike, I learned that he’s also an award winning author, a husband, father, guitarist, harmonica player and a bear wrestler. We’ll get to the bear wrestling a little later, but let me first take the liberty to explain why I’m fascinated with folks who do what Mike Keefe does, so well.
As a career marketing person, I’m a bit envious of every good editorial cartoonist, because not only do they have eye-catching graphics ability and a strong, persuasive message, they also have the credibility of an entire news organization behind them. That’s impact and power that you just can’t buy for the price of an ad.
Nothing can better personify the phrase “A picture is worth a thousand words,” than the work of a great editorial cartoonist. The best ones get directly to the heart of the matter and leave a powerful impression on us without reading paragraph after paragraph of political commentary. . They can reach the real essence of any crisis very quickly, whether that crisis is the economy, government corruption, political folly, or a man-made or natural disaster. Editorial cartoons can illuminate ridiculous policies, address important issues that are being ignored and call out inept leaders, greedy billionaires, warmongers and egomaniacs, to put them in their rightful place.
Remarkably, they can do all that with just one picture and a few words and sometimes, no words at all. The best editorial cartoonists can make an immediate and sometimes incredibly persuasive impact on a mind that was previously made up. Trust me, that’s every marketers dream.
Mike’s cartoons tend to lean to the Democratic, or more liberal side of the issues and I asked him how his opinions were originally formed:
“Regarding politics, even though I didn’t understand the issues well, I was swept up in the JFK campaign in 1960. He was a charming candidate and, like me at the time, Catholic. Parishioners at St. Gregory’s were energized and the feeling was contagious. My political views were not really shaped until later, especially during the Vietnam War. By then, I’d been away from St. Ann for a couple of years.”
Well, it all makes sense now. Mike hails from an area that grows Catholics, Democrats, Marines and folks with a healthy sense of humor. I’m happy that he’s taken a good bit of that heritage with him to help shape world opinion for a living.
I hope you've enjoyed our feature, but I know what you've really been waiting for... here's Mike's bear wrestling story, from his own pen:
VICTOR
I was on the wrestling team at Ritenour in 1964 when I read a story in the Post Dispatch (or one of the county newspapers) about a wrestling bear. The owner was offering a cash prize to anyone who could pin this bear whose name, as I recall, was Victor.
So far, Victor was undefeated.
I decided to take the challenge. When I told my young sister, Teri, what I planned to do, she pleaded with me: “Don’t do it! You’ll get killed!”
She always had a flare for drama.
While she couldn’t dissuade me, she insisted on coming along in case she had to leap in and pull me away from a mauling.
The event was held in the parking lot of a car dealership in St. Charles. We drove out on the Rock Road and when we arrived there was already a crowd surrounding Victor and his owner. The bear was muzzled and on a leash.
I wanted to wait and watch someone else enter the circle first and grapple with the bear so that I could get an idea of what I was up against. But there were no takers.
Finally, I stepped up. I was assured that the animal had been declawed and his fearsome teeth were safely out of the way behind the leather muzzle. There was some sort of time limit to the match, probably a minute or two.
The owner raised his hand then brought it down sharply. “Wrestle!”
I circled Victor, out of reach, for ten seconds, looking for an opening, The bear, still on his leash, turned with me. At first he stayed on all fours like a friendly dog, but then he reared up on his hind legs. He had six inches on me, at least. Intimidating. Oh well, I thought, this is what I came to do. I plunged in and wrapped my arms around him in, yes, a bear hug.
At that point, you wouldn’t call it wrestling exactly. It was more like dancing. Round and round we went in a fox trot.
Then somehow we ended up on the asphalt, rolling around playfully. I tried for something resembling a half nelson and got a powerful whiff of Victor’s breath. Holy smoke! The fumes were toxic. I was afraid the skin on my face might curdle. Then he poked his tongue out from the muzzle and licked my cheek.
Still, I hung in there and, remarkably, I found that I had Victor on his back.
That’s when I discovered why the animal was undefeated. It was impossible, anatomically, to put both his shoulders on the ground at once. Bears aren’t built that way. Victor seemed to smile and easily pushed me to the side.
Soon, time was up, and I skulked away, defeated.
On the way home, Teri admitted that the whole thing was terrific fun and she was grateful that I had not been eaten.
After a moment, though, she leaned toward me.
“Ewwww! What’s that smell?”
_____________________
Before we go, let me play a couple more toons from Mike Keefe:
* Quote from San Miguel Writers Conference, where Mike won top prize for his nonfiction story, "The Blue Grenade," in 2014. You can read the story here: http://sanmiguelwritersconferenceblog.org/blue-grenade-by-mike-keefe/
** Profile of Mike Keefe, by Charles McNamarahttp://justaroundhere.com/index.php/all-sections/names-faces/famous-infamous-with-a-link-to-evergreen/109-mike-keefe-editorial-cartoonist
