Michael Ramirez

Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Ramirez combines an encyclopedic knowledge of the news with a captivating drawing style to create consistently outstanding editorial cartoons. Ramirez, who studied pre-med at the University of California, Irvine, originally considered journalism a hobby. But he was hooked when his first cartoon for the college newspaper, lampooning candidates for student office, had the student assembly demanding an apology. “If I don’t get at least one phone call a day that says I’m a moron, I’m not doing my job,” Ramirez says of his penchant for sparking controversy with his cartoons. In addition to the 1994 Pulitzer Prize, Michael counts the 1996 Mencken Award for Best Cartoon among his many honors. He is based at the Los Angeles Times, where he moved after seven years at the Memphis Commercial-Appeal. He has been syndicated by Copley News Service since 1988.