[ Music ]
>> Marcela Brane:
I'm Marcela Brane
from the Herb Block Foundation.
I'm the president.
>> Sarah Alex: And I'm Sarah
Alex, the executive director
of the Herb Block Foundation.
>> Marcela Brane: What
kind of work we did, well,
that can be expansive.
So he was not a morning person,
so he would come later
on in the afternoon.
We would come in, and
we would have to go
through the newspapers,
copy his letters and mail.
We would have to
do three copies.
It was Jean Rickard's kind of
formula of how the office ran,
and that was also because he
might have misplaced a letter
or might have misplaced
something that was important,
so that we always had a copy
that we could give to him.
But we would clip
out photos for his
picture file, I don't
know, picture library,
and that was also for him to
be able to draw accurately,
but also to be able to see
all different angles so that,
you know, just to kind of
assist him in his drawings,
and that was basically
our choices,
but what we thought
would be important.
And then we also had
to clean his office.
That was often.
So we would leave
before he left.
Later on, that changed a little
bit, but we would usually leave
at around seven-ish, so
we would clean his office.
We would also put the
newspapers, obviously, on,
you know, with Perrier and get
his artwork set up, and paper,
make sure he had his paper
and everything that he needed
for that day of drawing.
>> Sarah Alex: Warned
in the beginning,
"Are you okay doing old-school
things: getting coffee,
cleaning up the office,
running errands?"
Because he was about 89.
It was 1999 when
we both started.
She started in January --
>> Marcela Brane:
In December, yeah.
>> Sarah Alex: Oh.
I started April '99 and
Marcie had been there
for a few months before.
So it was clear that there'd be
a lot of personal things to do
as well as researching articles
and having current events,
pictures to cut out and file,
going to the library to check
on things when he needed it.
So there was a lot
of the research
and registering copyright
with the Library of Congress,
but there was a whole system
set up where we just came in
and did our position
because you cleaned up his --
you sharpened his pencils,
you laid out, as Marci said,
the Perrier, I think a
caffeine-free coffee.
You had four newspapers
lined up.
It was a certain
setup that you had.
>> Marcela Brane: He
had a syndication,
so we would also do
a zip disk, you know,
and send the cartoon
out every day.
>> Sarah Alex: The
V-lockses [phonetic].
>> Marcela Brane: The V-lockses.
He was a great fact-checker,
so we really relied on --
he wanted to make sure all
his quotes were correct.
If he was putting a quote
in his caption, for example,
or in the cartoon that
day, we had to make sure
that every word was --
>> Sarah Alex: Or the picture.
He wanted the right angle, a
bit of a perfectionist that way.
So you had to really make sure
you were getting left side,
down angle, or whatever
he wanted for the picture.
You saw, he would show us a
draft, so we'd have an idea.
>> Marcela Brane:
Yeah, and then, I mean,
I just remember one where we
kind of were laughing and we had
to go to the picture file a
little bit because he wanted
to have the exact
drawing for a submarine,
but it had to be the year
of the date of the submarine
because the submarines
changed, and we were like,
"I think it's okay," but
he was very specific.
>> Sarah Alex: [Inaudible] He
did a lot of gun cartoons, so I,
having no experience cutting
out the different pictures,
not understanding what
a nine-millimeter is --
yeah, I don't know, AK47.
The regular things I remember
that just seemed to be ongoing
and that I saw were gun
control campaign, finance,
healthcare even,
and election stuff.
>> Marcela Brane: He would
deal with women's issues
when we were there,
a lot on equal pay.
>> Sarah Alex: Yeah,
definitely mandatory minimum --
>> Marcela Brane: Yeah, exactly,
mandatory minimums were the --
>> Sarah Alex: I
learned working for him.
So you had to understand current
events, and I remember growing
up in DC, not understanding
this cartoon.
It was in the A section,
and it was confirmed working
for him that, if you're not
following current events,
then you're not going to
understand this cartoon.
>> Marcela Brane: Well,
I can't say for sure,
but I think that
he would like it.
He loved art, all forms of art.
He loved color, so I think a
lot of those cartoons out there
or art drawings would
draw him to them.
So even though he drew
in black and white,
he loved to learn
more about artists.
He might have hesitated,
not wanting it
to draw separate cartoons
to kind of compete
with each other perhaps,
but I think that his main
view was that, for him,
I think that the
editorial cartoon is to,
like Sarah was mentioning,
to learn something from.
You don't have to agree with
it, but it makes you think,
and I think that that
was really important
because I don't think any
of his cartoons or any
of these cartoons can
kind of solve the problem
and is the answer
to a situation.
I think he really felt
that he wanted to say,
it may be his opinion, but it
was mostly to spark an interest
in that issue, and then also
to expand and make you think
about what your opinion is
and how you can evolve it.
So I think he would be
thrilled because, also,
there are different ideas
that maybe perhaps he
had not thought of.
And he was always into learning,
so I think he would be good.
>> Sarah Alex: Yeah.
I usually cover reprints,
and that's asking
to reprint cartoons,
the copyright,
so the foundation still
maintains the copyright
to his cartoons.
And we get regular
requests every week,
and it can be anything
from a high school teacher
wanting curriculum to AP exams
where they want a million
copies of the cartoon.
And certain themes continue.
Mr. Block, I think, is
unprecedented in his, you know,
having presidents like
Nixon bring up his name
and having been a
part of Watergate
and the Pulitzer Prize,
sharing that with Roger Wilkins
and Woodward and
Bernstein, you know.
And he had no editorial
overlook on what he did.
He let the editors know, but
it wasn't for them to ax it
or to tell him what to
do or which to choose.
So if you look at
cartooning today,
there's always been issues
between editorial cartoonists
and editors, and what the editor
may or may not want to see
in the paper, but it is the
editorial cartoonist's opinion.
It is the opinion section,
and unfortunately, right now,
the recent articles are about
everybody losing their jobs.
And when Mr. Block passed in
2001, there were over 100,
probably 120 staff
cartoonists, but with newspapers
and online everything,
currently,
I saw that there
might be 35 staff.
So I think that editorial
cartooning,
the conversation has moved
a lot to satire, is ongoing.
So there's the Daily Show
and other forms of it.
Though, it'll continue.
Everyone's going to
doodle and lambast
and trying to stir things up.
As Marcie said, Mr. Block liked
things that got a reaction,
that was learning,
that was stirring.
So if you're looking
at the modern art,
he would like the things that
show some kind of impact.
>> Marcela Brane:
Having presidents mention his
name is showing a reaction,
and that reaction
is showing impact.
He continued on an issue,
just like we mentioned.
He didn't just drop it
after a new presidency.
>> Sarah Alex: And it's
important that it is an issue
and an argument in editorial
cartooning versus comics
or something that
just makes you laugh.
We're trying to promote and
continue editorial cartooning
at the foundation with
the Herblock Prize,
which is for professional
cartoonists, but we also,
the last four years, have one
for middle- and high-schoolers
with Scholastic Arts & Writing,
which lots of kids don't know,
if you ask a room full
of youth, whatever,
you describe what an
editorial cartoon is, maybe one
or two will raise their hands.
So we'd like to get that
still in the conversation,
and whether that's multi-panel
or, you know, if that evolves
into memes or, you know,
how the art form evolves.
We want to see what middle-
and high-schoolers are doing,
but with the Herblock Prize,
that's something we're
trying to keep it going.
>> Marcela Brane: So the cartoon
that I think tells me a lot
about, or tells people a lot
about Mr. Block is the Pablo
Picasso, Any More Lessons.
What I loved about Herb Block
is that he was so humble,
and it makes him human.
It makes me think about how
he treasures lessons learned,
and he always looked
up to people,
and he always saw
what they gave.
He did this with Einstein.
He did this with a lot
of civil rights figures.
And so it just brought him
back to me a little bit,
with a reminder of, always
look forward and always look
at the greatness of
others, and be humble.
>> Sarah Alex: I don't have
any particularly favorite
because I keep seeing new
ones, and I see the old style,
and it's fun, but I
must say, I am now --
I definitely love the one-panel
cartoon over the multi-panel.
I'm nostalgic for that.
>> Marcela Brane: I mean,
for us, when we were there,
his style stayed the
same, but I will say
that when he got new pencils,
he always reverted
back to the old paper.
>> Sarah Alex: No.
we had to keep looking, but --
>> Marcela Brane: He
tried them, though.
He tried. And obviously,
he did change, you know,
using different pens and, as
you know, pens, but he did stick
with the basic charcoal,
you know.
He did like his certain pencils.
I mean, I can sometimes say
when you look at the, you know,
those very early, just the way
it's completely different to me.
>> Sarah Alex: Size, style.
>> Marcela Brane:
How he drew people,
even the shading
was very different.
>> Sarah Alex: Like when I
look back at his cartoons, say,
in the '40s, there's
not a lot in there.
They're quite simple.
It's not a lot of
background stuff or shading
or that type of thing.
And with Marcie talking about
how he tried new art supplies
and stuff, he had
to change sometimes
because they stopped making it.
He worked for 70 years,
so the office stockpiled
paper, and we stockpiled --
>> Marcela Brane: The
paper had to be changed
because they didn't
make it anymore.
I mean, that's part of --
>> Sarah Alex: Yeah,
and the pens.
We had to keep trying different
Sharpies, but as we learned
from the Library of Congress,
who's been storing his cartoons,
that the pen has been changing
to brown with oxidation,
or the labels that he used
when we worked for him,
instead of using
Wite-Out for a mistake,
he would take a gummy address
label and put that white sticker
on it, and then draw
over the white sticker.
But as time goes on, we're
hearing, with the preservation,
that some of the glue
dries, and that's coming up.
But he started every
cartoon with a blue drawing
because that didn't
show with the camera.
And just before he passed, they
were going to change the camera
at the newspaper, and
that was a situation
because the new camera
would show the blue outline,
the blue pencil.
>> Marcela Brane: He did
try out a lot of things,
but the computer was
one that he never did.
>> Sarah Alex: Again,
there were things
that he wanted a certain way
and would have liked
to stick with it.
If you do Google Herblock's
Law, like Murphy's Law,
there is a Herblock's
Law, that if you like it,
they'll stop making it.
So yeah, but if you work for
72 years, that'll happen.
>> Oh, yeah.
>> Sarah Alex: It was
fun working his office.
His issues were hard
and meaningful,
but he was a jokester,
and he liked to smile,
and it was fun to
be in the office.
However, when he worked, he was
a perfectionist, so you did need
to be on your toes
for that part.
When he was on, he was on.
>> Yeah.
>> Marcela Brane: He
did stick to his guns
and what he believed
in, and he would listen,
and he was absolutely for
it, but then he's going
to do it the way he really, his
gut, or what he really felt.
>> Sarah Alex: He was a --
>> Marcela Brane:
But he was fun,
and he liked his parties
and he liked his --
>> Sarah Alex: Wind-up
toys and giving gifts.
>> Marcela Brane:
Gatherings and -- yeah.
>> Sarah Alex: Again, the
color in the office --
>> Marcela Brane:
And the color --
>> Sarah Alex: Socializing,
all that.
But he was also very
nice in terms of --
I came in not knowing
much about politics
or who politicians were, and
he would ask for a certain file
on someone, and it
might be somebody
that everybody else would
recognize, but I would say,
"I'm sorry, who did you say?"
And he never made
you feel stupid.
He never made you feel like an
idiot, which could've easily --
he was very great in that sense,
and then also just
how humble he was.
I didn't realize he was
such a bigwig at the Post,
maybe not even until
he passed away.
But I had a friend
in communications,
and it was through her
that I realized that,
if his office asked
for anything,
he could have had anything.
And he would hail cabs.
He never drove, so he would hail
cabs at, like, 11 at night, and,
again, it was somebody else, one
of our board members actually,
who said he should
have a driver.
Why is he hailing cabs?
And, again, that's
other people coming in.
Mr. Block didn't
ask for anything.
>> Marcela Brane:
I think he also
like the connection
with the people.
He loved to talk to everybody --
>> Sarah Alex: Very social.
>> Marcela Brane: A person
that everybody could talk to.
You didn't feel, like Sarah
was saying, you don't feel
like you couldn't approach him.
He was very approachable.
>> Sarah Alex: But when he
was angry, he was angry.
>> Marcela Brane: Oh,
yeah, that was what my --
if you told him he was wrong
on something, [inaudible].
>> Sarah Alex: You can't
tell him he's wrong.
He'll listen and he'll argue.
>> Marcela Brane:
It was something
that I would never expect
to happen in my life,
so working for him and then --
>> Sarah Alex: Yeah.
We were part of a big
newsroom, but we worked for him,
so we could see how a newsroom
worked and be a part of it
when news stories were
breaking, but we worked for him,
and so it was this
small little family.
Definitely a family.
Mr. Block didn't get married or
have children, but his staff --
>> Marcela Brane:
He made it -- yup.
>> Sarah Alex: I mean, the
board is a collection of people
who are in their 80s, and
then we were the youngsters
at the time, and, I
think, 40s and 50s,
but it's a family that's
just ongoing for sure.
He created his own
family, and all of us --
and colleagues also,
other writers.
But we all have a real obvious
fondness for him and a real kind
of loyalty or dedication.
So working for the foundations
is so much more than a job.
We had no idea that
he had so much money.
>> Marcela Brane: No.
>> Sarah Alex: In the
Washington Post stocks.
So that after taxes, there was
$50 million for a foundation.
You would never --
>> Marcela Brane: Never.
>> Sarah Alex: His house was
stuck in 1960s or something.
The couch, the wallpaper,
and stuff --
>> Marcela Brane: Seventies.
>> Sarah Alex: Right, exactly.
And I didn't know until it
came out in the newspaper,
and somebody on the phone told
me, you know, the 15 million.
And I said, "Fifteen million?"
They said, "No, no,
no, 50 million."
And I was looking in
his house, like --
>> Marcela Brane: And
we are doing the things
that I really believe
that he wanted to be done,
and that he'd commented
on in his cartoons.
And he kind of organized it
so that it would fall
into place like that.
I really honestly think that --
>> Sarah Alex: And by choosing
the board members he did.
>> Marcela Brane:
Well, that's true, too.
>> Sarah Alex: All
people knew him well.
Everybody knew him
personally, and, anyway,
understood what's
important to him.
So when it comes
to choosing grants,
you don't really
question what rings a bell
and what he would
want to support.
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