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August 29, 2006
A Letter from the President
By Clay Bennett
For most of my life I’ve been quite willing and more than able to avoid responsibility. Both professionally and personally, responsibility always meant a duty and an obligation to something or someone other than myself. I realized early on that I was far too selfish a person for that. I think this realization was one of the reasons I chose to become a cartoonist. I know it was one of the reasons I chose not to become a parent.
Professionally, this detached disposition must have affected my career path. I never had any desire to be someone’s boss or supervisor. I never wanted to have another’s success determined by my own, or vice versa. Cartooning was perfect for me. Loners by nature, cartoonists work in solitude and are responsible for a product that’s wholly their own creation.
Personally, my aversion to responsibility lead me to avoid parenthood at all costs (with a trip to the urologist ensuring that this objective did not inadvertently go awry). It wasn’t that I disliked kids, I just didn’t want to be responsible for any. In fact, even owning a dog was too much of an obligation for me. I opted for the aloof companionship of a cat instead.
You see, I always figured if nobody ever depended on me, I’d never let them down. If there were no expectations, there would be no disappointments. I wasn’t particularly proud of this character flaw, but at least I recognized my own faults enough to plan my life accordingly.
But no man is an island, as they say, and my island was about to be invaded.
Cindy Procious arrived on my shores in 1999 with three kids in tow. A charming, beautiful and vivacious cartoonist, Cindy stole my heart.
As love will often do, it makes you crazy, it makes you irrational, and it turns your life upside-down. This was no more evident than when I started to seriously consider taking on not only the role of Cindy’s husband, but also that of father to her kids. It wasn’t long before that fate was sealed and my lifelong plan of independence and irresponsibility was happily abandoned.
My relationship with the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists goes back much further.
A competitive, overbearing and sarcastic group, the AAEC appealed to me immediately. I’ve always loved this organization, but even so, I never wanted to take on a position of either responsibility or duty. Anything more than showing up for a convention once a year would have been too much of an obligation for me.
Over the years though, my love for the association grew, and with that a gradual retreat from my position of detached independence. It all culminated in me taking leave of both my senses and my dereliction of duty by agreeing to serve as AAEC President.
My decision to accept responsibility, both personally and professionally, has been profoundly gratifying for me. Through these choices, I’ve discovered that depending on others, and having others depend on me, are good things. In fact, they’re what life is all about. Like my life as a parent, my year as AAEC president may have come with a ton of anxiety, but not an ounce of regret.
So, as I count down the last few days of my term in office, I’d like to thank you all for the honor of serving as your president. To those of you who helped me make it through this past year, I thank you. To those of you whose faith and trust in me has not been shattered by this experience, I thank you. And to those of you who feel that I just never quite lived up to your expectations... well... now you know how Cindy feels.
Your comrade,
Clay
[Departing AAEC President Clay Bennett also gave an interview to E&P's Dave Astor. You can read the entire thing: Click here. ]