Doug Marlette
A fiercely Southern cartoonist whose pen skewered politicians with Pulitzer-winning wit and gave life to the beloved, bumbling preacher Will B. Dunn.
1949–2007 (age 58)·American editorial cartoonist·Birthday: December 6·Baby Boomers
Biography
Doug Marlette wielded his pen like a scalpel and a cudgel, first for newspapers across the American South and later for the nation. His editorial cartoons, drawn with a vivid, kinetic line, were unsparing critiques of power, hypocrisy, and folly, winning him a Pulitzer Prize in 1988. But Marlette’s heart was in the South, and his true masterpiece was the comic strip ‘Kudzu.’ Set in the fictional town of Bypass, North Carolina, it was a sprawling, affectionate, and sharply observed satire of Southern life, centered on the hapless Methodist minister Will B. Dunn. The strip’s decade-spanning run created a rich tapestry of characters that felt like family to readers. In his final years, Marlette successfully channeled his narrative energy into novels, drawing on his own family history. His life was cut short in a car accident, but he left behind a dual legacy: the immediate punch of the daily editorial and the enduring, nuanced world of his Southern storytelling.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Doug was born in 1949, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Doug Was Born
The biggest hits of 1949
#1 Movie
Samson and Delilah
Best Picture
All the King's Men
#1 TV Show
Texaco Star Theatre
Doug's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1949Born
NATO founded; Mao proclaims the People's Republic of China
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,450Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Riders in the Sky" — Vaughn MonroeBest Picture: All the King's Men
1954Started school
Brown v. Board of Education desegregates US schools
Gas: $0.29/galHome: $8,925Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Little Things Mean a Lot" — Kitty KallenBest Picture: On the Waterfront
1962Became a teenager
Cuban Missile Crisis brings the world to the brink
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,800Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Stranger on the Shore" — Acker BilkBest Picture: Lawrence of Arabia
1965Could drive
US sends combat troops to Vietnam
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,600Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" — The Rolling StonesBest Picture: The Sound of Music
1967Could vote
Summer of Love in San Francisco; first Super Bowl
Gas: $0.33/galHome: $14,250Min wage: $1.40/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"To Sir, with Love" — LuluBest Picture: In the Heat of the Night
1970Turned 21
First Earth Day; The Beatles break up
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $17,000Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Bridge over Troubled Water" — Simon & GarfunkelBest Picture: Patton
1979Turned 30
Iran hostage crisis begins; Three Mile Island accident
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $37,900Min wage: $2.90/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"My Sharona" — The KnackBest Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer
1989Turned 40
Berlin Wall falls; Tiananmen Square protests
Gas: $1.00/galHome: $79,100Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"Look Away" — ChicagoBest Picture: Driving Miss Daisy
1999Turned 50
Columbine shooting; Y2K panic builds
Gas: $1.17/galHome: $113,900Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Believe" — CherBest Picture: American Beauty
2007Died at 58
iPhone released; Great Recession begins
Gas: $2.80/galHome: $172,600Min wage: $5.85/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Irreplaceable" — BeyonceBest Picture: No Country for Old Men
Key Achievements
- Won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning in 1988 for his work at the Atlanta Constitution and The Charlotte Observer.
- Created the long-running syndicated comic strip 'Kudzu,' which was adapted into a stage musical.
- Authored two novels, 'The Bridge' and 'Magic Time,' which drew upon his family's history in the American South.
- His editorial cartoons were nationally syndicated and appeared in major publications like Newsweek and The New York Times.
Did You Know?
He based the character of Will B. Dunn in 'Kudzu' on a real Methodist minister he knew growing up.
The musical adaptation of 'Kudzu' premiered at the Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.
He was a vocal critic of televangelists like Jim Bakker, whom he frequently lampooned in his cartoons.
He taught a course on creativity and cartooning at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
“Humor is a weapon of the powerless against the powerful.”
