Blast from the past

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Author: Seguedad
Tuesday, May 05, 2009 - 10:13 pm
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Rummaging through some old books, I came across a small book of editorial cartoons by William Sanderson, who used to appear in The Oregonian in the 1960s, under the title "The Acid Test.'

Barney Keep did an introduction, but it's this cartoon that should jostle some early talk radio memories.

Author: Craig_adams
Wednesday, May 06, 2009 - 3:45 am
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Great Cartoon! I've made a copy for my files. This is circa 1966. Fenwick was on KGW 9pm to midnight and Mark Lee was on crosstown KLIQ 10:15am to 11:30am.

Author: Richjohnson
Wednesday, May 06, 2009 - 3:53 am
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I had that 'Acid Test' book for years and years, and knew of which cartoon you linked even before I clicked it!
Sanderson could have been an A-list nationally-known editorial cartoonist, but for the guy who had the job at The O for what seemed like 50 years (anybody remember?).
Eventually, he took his cartoons to KGW-TV, which was a noble experiment that didn't last long.
BTW, Mark Lee was the radio name for Martin Clark, who was the fine arts (opera and symphony) columnist for the Oregon Journal. He was an island of conservatism among the liberal ocean that was KLIQ in '67 (Doug Baker, Just Plain Jack, etc).

Author: Craig_adams
Wednesday, May 06, 2009 - 4:06 am
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Rich, Thanks! I was wondering why Mark Lee had such a short talk show, the guy was juggling two jobs!

Author: Seguedad
Wednesday, May 06, 2009 - 8:34 pm
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Anybody have any idea what happened to him? The back of the book says he freelanced for 10 years, from the time he sold his first cartoon at age 16, that he became a reporter, and the introduced The Acid Test" five years ago in the Oregonian. That he was 33, his wife Jo is a talented artist, and they have two children: Lisa, 11, and Little Joe, 3. No copyright date on the book, and lots of searching on the Internet gives me only copies of his book and lots about William Sanderson the character actor.

Author: Don_from_salem
Wednesday, May 06, 2009 - 9:26 pm
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I got that book in 1966, and still have it around here somewhere.

The O's longtime cartoonist, who is generally forgotten today was Art Bimrose.

Author: Craig_adams
Wednesday, May 06, 2009 - 9:39 pm
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Does the book give William Sanderson's middle initial? That would help me track him down.

Author: Richjohnson
Thursday, May 07, 2009 - 5:46 am
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I wanna say... the Acid Test book came out later then '66. Maybe '69 or so. I recall a cartoon referencing the Albina riots and looting of '67. Maybe someone long in the tooth at KGW recalls Sanderson's TV cartoon tenure. A bad start there, as his first TV cartoon lampooned the Seattle police corruption scandal of the time.
I believe he just gave up the cartooning biz after that.
Ah yes, Bimrose. Old school pol cartoons, with labels down the legs of most people he drew. Fine for his era, which Sanderson and others swept away.
Bimrose was certainly part of the team, with Sports Editor LH Gregory and archiology/TV columnist Francis Murphy, that made The O one of the most boring major papers in the nation.

Author: Seguedad
Thursday, May 07, 2009 - 12:49 pm
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OK, more information. I forgot I have a second, larger book of The Acid Test, published by Random house in 1973 with a forward by Gov. Tom McCall.

The about the author section says that he was then 39, had started his political cartooning for the O while working there as a reporter in 1963. His first book, the one with the Fenwick cartoon, it says, was printed in 1968 and went through three printings.
It also says he switched to tlevision editorial cartooning in 1970 and by late 1973 was "between assignments."
It mentions that he and his wife Janet have just welcomed their first child, Kate and that he has two children, Lisa, 17 and Joe, 9.
"The family lives in Northeast Portland with a dog, three cats, two birds and a lot of cartoons," it concludes.

No indication on a middle initial. It did say he was planning an additional book, "Drawn and Quartered," but gave no definite time.

Author: Magic_eye
Thursday, May 07, 2009 - 1:38 pm
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"...published by Random house in 1973..."

Actually, the publisher was Random HORSE / Graphic Arts Center.

The Sanderson you're looking for is William J. in Walla Walla.

Author: Seguedad
Thursday, May 07, 2009 - 5:45 pm
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::slaps forehead::
Random HORSE indeed. Must be slipping in my old age. Thanks. Magic_eye!

Author: Bob_kuhn
Thursday, May 07, 2009 - 7:43 pm
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Bill was the public affairs office director for the Oregon Dept of Energy in Salem after The Acid Test left TV

Author: Craig_adams
Friday, May 08, 2009 - 1:59 am
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Magic eye: Thanks for his initial, unfortunately there is nothing written about him in The Oregonian on-line back to 1987 except for what Bob Kuhn mentioned. I did however find this listing of his books among others on Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&keywords=william%20sanderson&index=books&page=1

Author: Bob_kuhn
Friday, May 08, 2009 - 10:10 pm
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Craig, While I was in Portland in the I&E section of ODFW, he was interested in exhibiting some of his paintings in our office. We had a changing art exhibit in the lobby of the HQ building when it was on Mill Street. I went down to his office in the DOE HQ building to work out some details. We covered the exhibits with some insurance. Anyway, we talked about his days of the Acid Test. I remember him saying it took all day to get the day's cartoon finished from editorial concept to the final drawings. This must have been in the early 1980's.


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