Signe Wilkinson

PULITZER-PRIZE winning cartoonist Signe Wilkinson is getting a bigger pen. Starting April 8, Signe's lacerating wit will now also appear in a new cartoon in the Sunday Inquirer . Plus, in addition to her daily cartoons for the Daily News , she'll also be appearing in the Inquirer on Tuesdays and Thursdays . . . and on a revamped philly.com page as well. This change is in keeping with Philadelphia Media Network's emphasis on providing quality, original content to as many of our readers and users as possible.

RE SIGNE Wilkinson's Jan. 11 "cartoon": However unlikely it may be that the Daily News or Ms. Wilkinson is interested in facts, I will trouble myself with an attempt to bring clarity into her aberrant view of the Tucson, Ariz., shooting. In her "cartoon," Ms. W. alludes to political discourse being strangely related to firearms. But the Tucson event had absolutely nothing to do in any manner to politics. The shooter is a well-known psychopath who, unfortunately at the time of his gun purchase, was without a criminal record.

AS A BLACK citizen of Philadelphia, I was appalled by Signe Wilkinson's cartoon on murders and Black History Month. The gall of it all is that she has two black people saying the punch line about the deaths. But, if anything, we'd be praying. This is a very racist statement. If this was your race, how would you feel? Blacks weren't the only people killed in January. You have killings in the white race but keep it hush-hush. Are you that afraid of black people? Think sometimes before printing.

MOORE COLLEGE of Art has honored painters, interior decorators and fashions designers with its Visionary Woman Award. This year, three more women have joined the Visionary ranks, including Daily News political cartoonist Signe Wilkinson. The award is made annually to women whose work and leadership have had a major influence on the visual arts, but Wilkinson is the first illustrator to win this award. "We thought she was a pioneer in the industry," said Moore College President Happy Fernandez.

There was George Bush, American flag fluttering on his desk, declaiming to the populace, "I am your father who art in the White House! Hollow be my name. " And there was Signe Wilkinson, the Daily News political cartoonist whose deft satirical touch has bushwhacked Bush on many another occasion, with champagne dripping from her hair. For just the kind of biting bitchiness displayed in the first panel of yesterday's political cartoon, one concerning Bush and abortion, this impertinent Quaker with a scalpel for a pen who is really a very nice lady, won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning.

Daily News cartoonist Signe Wilkinson waves to the crowd after behing honored by WOmens Way at its annual dinner last night. Also receiving special commendations were: Helen Cunningham, executive director of the Samuel S. Fels Fund, Germaine Ingram, School District chief of staff and Peg Szczurek, director of Children's Village at Doylestown Hospital.

Our very own editorial cartoonist, Signe Wilkinson, receives the Overseas Press Club's prestigious Thomas Nast Award tonight at a ceremony in New York. It's the second Nast Award for Signe, whose many honors include a 1992 Pulitzer Prize in journalism. Here are three of last year's cartoons that helped her win this richly deserved salute.

Editorial Board declares the Red Wings don't have a prayer: (From left, first row) Editorial Page Editor Morris Thompson (seated), Signe Wilkinson, Elmer Smith; (second row) Michael Days, Carol Towarnicky, Linda Wright Moore; (rear) Frank Burgos, Deputy Editorial Page Editor Don Harrison

CONGRATULATIONS to Joseph Vento of Geno's Steaks, a true American who has the backbone to take a stand and say what much of the general public and many spineless politicians really think but are too cowardly to speak up about. And Signe Wilkinson's attempt at mocking "South Philly Cheesesteaks" would be lame if it weren't so pathetic. Phooey for phony cartoonists! Hooray for the English language! Applause for Joseph Vento! Ketan Ben Caesar, Philadelphia

SIGNE Wilkinson's tribute to the memory of Rosa Parks was the most ingenious and creative of the countless cartoons I viewed. Stitching out "Equality" captured the essence of Mrs. Parks' brave decision not to move to the back of the bus. That the banner was done by "Just a seamstress" added much to the message. It's clear why Ms. Wilkinson won a Pulitzer in 1992. Robert Archibald Williamsburg, Va.

PULITZER-PRIZE winning cartoonist Signe Wilkinson is getting a bigger pen. Starting April 8, Signe's lacerating wit will now also appear in a new cartoon in the Sunday Inquirer . Plus, in addition to her daily cartoons for the Daily News , she'll also be appearing in the Inquirer on Tuesdays and Thursdays . . . and on a revamped philly.com page as well. This change is in keeping with Philadelphia Media Network's emphasis on providing quality, original content to as many of our readers and users as possible.

Tony Auth, the Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist and a mainstay of the Philadelphia Inquirer's editorial page for four decades, announced today he is resigning effective March 31. The editorial cartoonist joined the Inquirer in 1971, won a Pulitzer for his work in 1976, and has been awarded five Overseas Press Club Awards and the Sigma Delta Chi Award for Distinguished Service in Journalism. He has two published cartoon anthologies under his belt and has illustrated 11 children's books.

THIS IS a letter in regards to just about everything that is going on in our lives today and what I've been reading in the paper, like a baby found in a cardboard box, and how a man dressed as Santa killed himself and six others. Also, how we experienced an earthquake. I am 57 years old and can't remember when I have felt that. It scares me to think about all that is going on in this world today. I believe in my heart that we need to bow our heads and thank God everyday that we open our eyes.

IN RESPONSE to state Sen. Vince Hughes' op-ed piece on an extraction tax in the Marcellus Shale region, I have one question for him which he probably won't dignify with a response. Why didn't the state Legislature under Ed Rendell impose an extraction tax on gas companies when the Democrats had control of the governor's house and the state Legislature for two years? My theory is that both sides were readily taking campaign contributions and didn't have a problem with it at the time.

Signe Wilkinson can't help but sketch. She stands at her tilted drawing board, which is illuminated by a spotlight, and answers questions as her hand purposefully glides over the paper. She's talking about her new comic strip, Penn's Place , which debuts Sunday in The Inquirer. It is set in Philadelphia, on a fictional city block, where main character Hannah Penn has recently moved. "It's a block that no one actually knows, but everyone will have felt like they've passed it, in one way or another," Wilkinson says.

MOORE COLLEGE of Art has honored painters, interior decorators and fashions designers with its Visionary Woman Award. This year, three more women have joined the Visionary ranks, including Daily News political cartoonist Signe Wilkinson. The award is made annually to women whose work and leadership have had a major influence on the visual arts, but Wilkinson is the first illustrator to win this award. "We thought she was a pioneer in the industry," said Moore College President Happy Fernandez.

New work by Anita Allyn and James Johnson at Vox Populi, through Oct. 2 (215-238-1253 or www.voxpopuligallery.org ). Editorial cartoons for the Philadelphia Daily News by Signe Wilkinson, the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for political cartooning and one of Moore College of Art and Design's three Visionary Women 2011 award winners, at Moore through Oct. 15 (215-965-4027 or www.thegalleriesatmoore.org ). Sculpture, two-dimensional work, and an installation by Timothy Belknap at Rebekah Templeton Contemporary Art, through Oct. 22. (267-519-3884 or www.rebekahtempleton.com )

AS A BLACK citizen of Philadelphia, I was appalled by Signe Wilkinson's cartoon on murders and Black History Month. The gall of it all is that she has two black people saying the punch line about the deaths. But, if anything, we'd be praying. This is a very racist statement. If this was your race, how would you feel? Blacks weren't the only people killed in January. You have killings in the white race but keep it hush-hush. Are you that afraid of black people? Think sometimes before printing.

ON JAN. 17, the DN pulled a "bait and switch" with the cover story tease "From Philly to Virgin Islands: For U.S. District Justices, Temporary Gig a Real Beach. " For good measure, there was a woman in a bikini on the cover. Are things that desperate? Granted, the Eagles season is over. And Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a slow news day. But to try to goose sales with the tease of a scandal where there isn't one does a disservice to the judiciary, your readers and the paper's reputation.

RE SIGNE Wilkinson's Jan. 11 "cartoon": However unlikely it may be that the Daily News or Ms. Wilkinson is interested in facts, I will trouble myself with an attempt to bring clarity into her aberrant view of the Tucson, Ariz., shooting. In her "cartoon," Ms. W. alludes to political discourse being strangely related to firearms. But the Tucson event had absolutely nothing to do in any manner to politics. The shooter is a well-known psychopath who, unfortunately at the time of his gun purchase, was without a criminal record.