CARTOONIST PROFILE

Bio

Dennis Draughon was born in October 1961 and spent the first 29 years of his life in Virginia and North Carolina before moving to Scranton, Pennsylvania, to spend the next fifteen years of his life drawing cartoons for a living. In 2005, Dennis moved back below the Mason-Dixon. Dennis now lives and freelances in the Triangle area of North Carolina.

In 1979, in a scene reminiscent of a driver’s education film, Dennis’ car stalled on the railroad tracks in the path of an oncoming train. Coming to consciousness half an hour later with his car ripped open like a can of tuna and the locomotive engine occupying his passenger seat, Dennis reached up, patted the throbbing steel and said, “Nice train, don’t finish me off now.” Suffering only a minor cut, he went back to high school the next day.

Dennis attended North Carolina State University after failing the physical exam for entrance to the Air Force Academy as one of Sen. Jesse Helms’ appointees. At NC State, he studied aerospace engineering, visual design and history while serving for eight years as the editorial cartoonist for the student newspaper, The Technician. Dennis later earned a bachelor’s degree in history from NCSU.

After a brief sojourn making rope hammocks at Twin Oaks commune in northern Virginia, Dennis was hired as the last editorial cartoonist for the now-defunct Raleigh Times. Near the end of his tenure there, Dennis put together his first book, “The Line is Draughon,” published in 1989 by Barefoot Press of Raleigh.

From 1989 to 2004, Dennis was the staff editorial cartoonist for The Times-Tribune newspapers in Scranton. His work there earned a Fischetti Award for Distinguished Achievement in 1993 and the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists’ 1999 “Golden Spike” award for the best cartoon killed by an editor. More recently, Dennis’ work for Capitol Broadcasting Co. was awarded Editor & Publisher’s “Eppy Award” in 2019, 2021, and 2023 for best editorial cartoons for a media website. Dennis is most likely the model for the satirical portrayal of the Scranton Times cartoonist who appears in the third season episode of the NBC sitcom “The Office,” entitled “The Convention.” Yeah, that’s what she said.

In addition, Dennis has worked in the past as a regular weekly freelance cartoonist for The Raleigh Times, from 1985-1989; The Durham News, from 2005-2012; The Insider, from 2005-2016; and The Fayetteville Observer, from 2005-2017.

In his spare time, Dennis loves to read and he enjoys spending time with his wife, Megan, daughter, Frances, and son, Charlie.