Bagley guest cartoonist: Bill Day | The Salt Lake Tribune

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Cartoonist's Note: While I take time away from my drawing board to organize the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists convention I am featuring the work of some attendees. Bill Day has been cartooning for as long as he can remember and taking (metaphorical) shots at the NRA for as long as I can remember.

Like many of my colleagues Bill found himself out of work when his paper, the Memphis Commercial Appeal, let him go at the height of the Great Recession in 2009. He continued to do cartoons for his syndicate while trying to find another newspaper gig, but finally took a job in a bike shop. Fixing bicycles by day and cartooning by night, however, wasn't paying the bills and Bill, at age 64, was close to losing his house.

An Indiegogo internet campaign brought in $42,000 and Bill has some breathing room which allows him to keep his house and continue cartooning. He will be part of a panel at the convention on using the internet to fund projects and keep cartoonists at their drawing tables. In a side issue, he will also answer critics who take issue with his practice of using images from his old cartoons and reworking them into new ones.

—Pat Bagley