Richard Thompson (cartoonist)

In 1982 Thompson began working at the Washington Post, and he was the newspaper's unofficial staff artist by 1985. Thompson provided illustrations for Joel Achenbach's Washington Post column and Gene Weingarten's column in The Washington Post Magazine.{{Cite web|url=http://www.tcj.com/richard-thompson-1957-2016/|title=Richard Thompson, 1957–2016|last=|first=|date=August 4, 2016|website=www.tcj.com|publisher=The Comics Journal|access-date=2016-07-27}}

The weekly, watercolored incarnation of his comic Cul de Sac launched in The Washington Post Magazine on February 14, 2004. The strip focuses on a four-year-old girl, Alice Otterloop, and her daily life at preschool and at home. It was published in more than 70 newspapers by the fall of 2007. It was distributed nationally as both a daily and Sunday strip by Universal Press Syndicate.{{Cite web|url=http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/resources/interviews/12135/|title=A Short Interview With Richard Thompson|last=|first=|date=January 26, 2008|website=www.comicsreporter.com|publisher=|access-date=2016-07-27}}

The first book collection of Cul de Sac strips, published in 2008 by Andrews McMeel, includes the pre-syndication Washington Post strips in color, as well as a foreword by Bill Watterson, who praised Thompson's work:

{{quote|I thought the best newspaper comic strips were long gone, and I've never been happier to be wrong. Richard Thompson's Cul de Sac has it all—intelligence, gentle humor, a delightful way with words, and, most surprising of all, wonderful, wonderful drawings.

Cul de Sac's whimsical take on the world and playful sense of language somehow gets funnier the more times you read it. Four-year-old Alice and her Blisshaven Preschool classmates will ring true to any parent. Doing projects in a cloud of glue and glitter, the little kids manage to reinterpret an otherwise incomprehensible world via their meandering, nonstop chatter. But I think my favorite character is Alice's older brother, Petey. A haunted, controlling milquetoast, he's surely one of the most neurotic kids to appear in comics. These children and their struggles are presented affectionately, and one of the things I like best about Cul de Sac is its natural warmth. Cul de Sac avoids both mawkishness and cynicism and instead finds genuine charm in its loopy appreciation of small events. Very few strips can hit this subtle note.{{cite book |last=Watterson |first=Bill |authorlink1=Bill Watterson |editor-last=Thompson |editor-first=Richard |title=Cul de Sac |location=Kansas City |publisher=Andrews McMeel |date=2008 |page=6 |chapter=Foreword |isbn=978-0-7407-7651-9}}}}

File:Childrenatplay.jpg

In 2009, Andrews McMeel published a second Cul de Sac collection, Children at Play, featuring a foreword by Mo Willems.

Thompson's cartoon series Richard's Poor Almanac appeared weekly (usually on Saturdays) in the Washington Post Style section. A compendium of his Richard's Poor Almanac cartoons was published by Emmis Books in 2005.

The Richard's Poor Almanac cartoon published the week of George W. Bush's first inauguration included a mock inaugural poem, "Make the Pie Higher," composed of some of Bush's more incoherent quotations, or "Bushisms". When "Make the Pie Higher" was leaked onto the Internet, it spread rapidly and was eventually dissected and analyzed on Snopes.com, which did a lengthy review of its origins. The poem has been set to music at least five times in various styles, including Irish and choral music.{{Cite web|url=http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/piehigher.asp|title=Make the Pie Higher!|last=Mikkelson|first=David|date=21 July 2008|website=www.snopes.com|publisher=Snopes.com|language=en-US|access-date=2016-07-27}}

Thompson's illustrations have appeared in U.S. News & World Report, The New Yorker, Air & Space/Smithsonian, National Geographic and The Atlantic Monthly.

In 2004, Thompson illustrated Francis Heaney's Holy Tango of Literature. In 2010, he wrote and illustrated "Barney Google and the Bigfoot Style", the foreword for Craig Yoe's Barney Google: Gambling, Horse Races & High-Toned Women (Yoe Books/IDW, 2010).

In 2010, the Pixar director Pete Docter hired Thompson to work on character sketches and development for his upcoming movie Inside Out.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2015/01/09/the-art-of-richard-thompson-why-pixar-filmmaker-pete-docter-up-tapped-the-cul-de-sac-creators-gifts/|title=The Art of Richard Thompson: Why Pixar filmmaker Pete Docter ('Up') tapped the 'Cul de Sac' creator's gifts|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=January 9, 2015}}

In 2014, the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum at Ohio State University hosted an exhibition of Thompson's work: "The Irresistible Force Meets the Immovable Object: A Richard Thompson Retrospective".{{cite news|url=https://library.osu.edu/blogs/cartoons/2014/03/20/new-interview-calvin-hobbes-creator-bill-watterson-and-cul-de-sac-creator-richard-thompson-talk-libraries-comics-and-the-creative-process-with-ohio-state/|title=Calvin & Hobbes creator Bill Watterson and Cul de Sac creator Richard Thompson talk libraries, comics, and the creative process with Ohio State;|work=Ohio State University Library}}

• 1989: A Gold and a Silver Funny Bone Award from the Society of Illustrators for humorous illustration
• 1995: The National Cartoonists Society's awards for both the Magazine and Book Illustration division and for Newspaper Illustration{{Cite web|url=http://www.reuben.org/2011/02/2011-cartoonist-of-the-year-nominees-announced |title=2010 Cartoonist of the Year Nominees Announced|date=Feb 22, 2011|website=National Cartoonist Society}}
• 2004: The Milton F. "Sonny" Clogg Outstanding Alumni Achievement Award from Montgomery College{{Cite web|url=http://mcblogs.montgomerycollege.edu/insights/2016/12/06/cartoonist-richard-thompson-made-us-laugh/|title=Cartoonist Richard Thompson Made Us Laugh|date=December 6, 2016|website=Montgomery College InSights}}
• 2011: The Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year, presented by the National Cartoonists Society{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/comic-riffs/post/this-just-in-cul-de-sacs-richard-thompson-wins-the-reuben-award/2011/05/28/AGlParDH_blog.html|title=THIS JUST IN: 'Cul de Sac's' Richard Thompson wins the Reuben Award|date=May 28, 2011|newspaper=Washington Post}}
• 2012: The Harvey Award for Best Syndicated Comic Strip{{Cite web|url=http://teamculdesac.blogspot.com/2012/09/richard-thompson-wins-harvey-award.html|title=Richard Thompson wins a Harvey award|date=September 8, 2012|website=Team Cul de Sac}}
• 2012: The first ever Ignatz "Golden Brick Award" for lifetime achievement{{Cite web|url=http://www.comicsbeat.com/on-the-scene-the-2012-ignatz-awards-at-spx/|title=On the Scene: The 2012 Ignatz Awards at SPX|date=October 3, 2012|website=Comics Beat}}
• 2015: The Eisner Award for Best Humor Publication for The Complete Cul de Sac{{Cite web|url=http://io9.gizmodo.com/here-are-your-eisner-2015-winners-1717201137|title=Here Are Your Eisner 2015 Winners!|date=July 11, 2015|website=io9}}

Thompson was a long-time resident of Arlington, Virginia.

On July 16, 2009, Thompson announced that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, a problem he described as "a pain in the fundament", which slowed him down but did not affect his drawing hand.{{Cite web|url=http://richardspooralmanac.blogspot.com/2009/07/some-news.html|title=Cul de Sac: Some News|last=Thompson|first=Richard|date=July 16, 2009|website=Cul de Sac|publisher=|access-date=2016-07-27}} Stephan Pastis, creator of Pearls Before Swine, described Thompson as "probably the most talented all-around syndicated cartoonist working today" and praised the courage and optimism he showed in revealing his illness.{{Cite web|url=https://stephanpastis.wordpress.com/2009/07/18/some-news-about-courage/|title=Some News About Courage|last=Pastis|first=Stephan|date=July 18, 2009|website=Pearls Before Swine|publisher=|access-date=2016-07-27}}

The children's book illustrator Stacy Curtis became the inker of Cul de Sac on March 26, 2012;{{Cite web|url=http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/stacy_curtis_joins_richard_thompson_on_cul_de_sac/|title=Stacy Curtis Joins Richard Thompson On Cul De Sac|last=|first=|date=March 26, 2012|website=www.comicsreporter.com|publisher=|access-date=2016-07-27}} but by August the effects of Parkinson's were progressing, and Thompson announced that he would be ending Cul de Sac: "Parkinson's disease is horribly selfish and demanding. A daily comic strip is too and I can only deal with one at a time. So it was a long, gradual, sudden decision."{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/comic-riffs/post/richard-thompson-ends-cul-de-sac-comic/2012/08/17/06a7fda6-e819-11e1-a3d2-2a05679928ef_blog.html |title=Breaking: Cul de Sac|date=August 17, 2012|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=2016-07-27}}

In 2012, the book Team Cul de Sac: Cartoonists Draw the Line at Parkinson's was published. It was created by his close friend Chris Sparks to honor Richard. It features the work of Bill Watterson and other cartoonists, who rallied together to raise money to benefit Team Fox, the fundraising arm of the Michael J. Fox Foundation that is working to find a cure for Parkinson's disease.

In 2014, Watterson, Nick Galifianakis and David Apatoff published a collection of Thompson's artwork and illustrations: The Art of Richard Thompson.{{cite book|title=Book: The Art of Richard Thompson|isbn=978-1449447953|last1=Apatoff|first1=David|last2=Galifianakis|first2=Nick|last3=Sparks|first3=Chris|last4=Watterson|first4=Bill|last5=Rhode|first5=Michael|year=2014|publisher=Andrews McMeel }} A short documentary of the same name,{{cite web|url=http://www.g-v-i.com/portfolio/the-art-of-richard-thompson/|title=Film: The Art of Richard Thompson}} profiling Thompson and his work, was also produced that year, directed by Bob Burnett.

In June 2016 Encore Stage & Studios in Arlington, Virginia, premiered the play Cul de Sac by Amy Thompson — Richard's wife — based on his comic strip.{{cite web|url=http://www.encorestageva.org/2015/05/19/cul-de-sac/|title=Encore Stage & Studio presents 'Cul de Sac'}}

Thompson died on July 27, 2016, from complications of Parkinson's disease.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2016/07/27/richard-thompson-acclaimed-cul-de-sac-creator-and-post-contributor-dies-at-58/ |title=Richard Thompson, acclaimed 'Cul de Sac' creator and Post contributor, dies at 58 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=27 July 2016}}

• Richard's Poor Almanac: 12 Months of Misinformation in Handy Cartoon Form (2004)
• Holy Tango of Literature (2004)
• Cul de Sac (2008)
• Children at Play: A Cul de Sac Collection (2009)
• Cul de Sac Golden Treasury: A Keepsake Garland of Classics (2010)
• Shapes & Colors: A Cul de Sac Collection (2010)
• The Mighty Alice: A Cul de Sac Collection (2012)
• The Complete Cul de Sac (2014)
• The Art of Richard Thompson (2014)
• The Incomplete Art of Why Things Are (The Richard Thompson Library) (Volume 1) (2017)

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.gocomics.com/culdesac Cul de Sac archive at GoComics]
• [http://richardspooralmanac.blogspot.com "Richard's Poor Almanac:"], the Blog of Richard Thompson
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080723141052/http://www.amuniversal.com/ups/features/cul_de_sac/bio.htm Universal Press Syndicate: Richard Thompson]
• [http://www.tcj.com/richard-thompson-1957-2016/ "Richard Thompson, 1957-2016"], The Comics Journal

;Interviews

• [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/09/08/DI2006090800043.html "Meet Cartoonist Richard Thompson"], The Washington Post, September 11, 2006
• [http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/resources/interviews/12135/ "A Short Interview With Richard Thompson"], Comics Reporter, January 25, 2008
• [https://www.newsarama.com/1300-the-strip-thing-richard-thompson-on-cul-de-sac.html "The Strip Thing: Richard Thompson on Cul de Sac"], NewsaRama, October 16, 2008
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20111119133217/http://talltalefeatures.com/2009/08/10/episode-42-comic-con-syndication-panel/ "Episode 42 - Comic Con Syndication Panel"], Tall Tale Radio, Tom Racine, August 10, 2009
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20111119132833/http://talltalefeatures.com/2009/11/16/episode-60-richard-thompson/ "Episode 60 - Richard Thompson"], Tall Tale Radio, Tom Racine, November 16, 2009
• [http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/books/2010/12/09/meet-a-local-cartoonist-a-chat-with-richard-thompson/ "Meet a Local Cartoonist: A Chat with Richard Thompson"], Washington City Paper, Mike Rhode, December 9, 2010
• [https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/comic-riffs/post/the-comic-riffspost-magazine-profile-cul-de-sac-creator-richard-thompson-faces-lifes-cruel-twists-with-artful-wit/2011/05/18/AFiNaT7G_blog.html "‘Cul de Sac’ creator Richard Thompson faces life’s cruel twists with artful wit"], The Washington Post, May 19, 2011
• [http://www.editorandpublisher.com/columns/syndicates-richard-thompson-on-ending-his-beloved-comic-strip-cul-de-sac/ "Richard Thompson On Ending His Beloved Comic Strip 'Cul de Sac{{'-}}"], Editor & Publisher, October 16, 2012

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Category:1957 births

Category:2016 deaths

Category:American comic strip cartoonists

Category:American illustrators

Category:People from Arlington County, Virginia

Category:People with Parkinson's disease