WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-Drawn Here, Part 3

Drawn Here, Part 3

Brookfield, Vermont - May 15, 2007

Brookfield is a quiet town. Even the main drag is rarely busy. But behind closed doors, Ed Koren's studio is a flurry of activity. He says, "This is all a passion. And it's all fun. There's always a new character. A new emotion."

For 45 years, Ed Koren has contributed single-panel funnies to The New Yorker, the magazine known for its articles and art. It is the gold standard for cartooning. Koren explains, "The competition to get into those magazines is phenomenal."

At first, Koren's submissions got plenty of "nos," but now he gets ten or so "yeses" a year, in large part because of his distinctive style: characters are shaggy and fuzzy. They are recognizable to readers, who say, "Oh, you're the guy. You're the one who does that."

The New York native started cartooning for his college paper. He moved his freelance art career from the city to Vermont in the late 1970s, where he loved vacationing and wanted to have a family. Back then, he'd send drawings to publishers by train. Now, it's email, fax, and overnight shipping. He laughs, "Frankly all my work is play."

Koren's pencil is a social scalpel, dissecting what he sees as the absurd elements of life: fanatical dog pampering, for example. He's a keen observer of the world around him.

Koren says, "There's nothing that isn't a source of inspiration."

He stays connected to Big Apple culture, giving him plenty of material to lampoon. His latest project skewers the way "foodies," restaurant snobs, talk about their meals. Koren mutters, "always judgmental!"

So judgmental, the man in his drawing uses legalese that belongs in a courtroom. The caption reads, "Your ruling on the octopus and cucumber salad is overly narrow." Koren explains the meal captures "One second. One moment."

It mocks, in a friendly way, a scene any reader of the upscale magazine has probably witnessed. Koren worries, though, that blogs and online journalism will force some printed publications to cut cartoons, cutting costs. He says, "One of the things that goes by the boards is illustration."

But since The New Yorker is so famous for its funnies, the artist expects he'll always have a stage there. But he occasionally has to take a forced break. The cartoonist is a captain on Brookfield's volunteer fire department.

He sees similarities between his two callings. Firefighting and drawing require using the hand and mind to solve problems. Both can bring immense satisfaction. Or, immense frustration when a day's work results in loss.

He says, "I'll either rip (a drawing) up or keep work working until it works out."

Thankfully for him, so many do work out. He says, "If I, as a cartoonist, can make others laugh as well as myself, I'm quite pleased, quite happy."

And with his corner of the world so quiet, Ed Koren can almost hear all those far-off chuckles, wherever his large audience picks up a cartoon that was "Drawn Here."

Ed Koren works for other publications, too, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and BusinessWeek. He also has illustrated several books, children's stories, and ads.

Jack Thurston - WCAX News