New Yorker Cartoons from Kensington, Now Kids' Books Too

Kensington-based New Yorker cartoonist Mike Twohy recently published his first book, which unfolds in a library modeled on the . In Poindexter Makes a Friend, a book-loving pig named Poindexter befriends a shy turtle while sharing books with him.

Poindexter grew out of Twohy’s collection for his first young audience, his own children. When they were in elementary school, he would draw cartoons to place in their lunchboxes.

 “A few years ago, I showed one of the drawings to an editor at Simon & Schuster,” said Twohy. The drawing portrayed a pig carrying a stack of books and trying to read the top one as he walked. “She said she’d like me to come up with a new story. She asked, ‘Why don’t we name him Poindexter?’ ”

To get the details right, Twohy visited the . “I looked at the counter and the stools the librarian stood on and the book carts,” he said.

Twohy (in person) and Poindexter (in print form) will be showcased October 12th at Litquake, San Francisco’s annual literary festival, in a special event for children.

A cartoonist for most of his career, Twohy continues to create cartoons for The New Yorker, in his quiet, shaded studio next to Tilden Park. At last count he had produced more than 400 New Yorker cartoons since 1980.

“I started out by selling them ideas,” said Twohy. “Back then they used gag-writers. Most of mine were drawn by Charles Addams.”

But gag-writing wasn’t enough. “I wanted to get my own drawings in, of course,” Twohy said. “One time they bought an idea – a castle with all of the weapons laid out in front and a sign saying, ‘Abdicating – Everything Must Go.’ ”

Twohy offered to draw it for them and dove into researching armor at the UC library. What Twohy didn't know was that Charles Addams collected armor and weapons and had an arsenal of his own at home.

“They went with his drawing,” Twohy said.

But Twohy was persistent. A year later, he sold the magazine an idea and convinced the editors to let him draw it as well.

“The first New Yorker drawing of mine was of a little kid sitting in front of the boss’ desk,” Twohy wrote in an email. “The boss says, ‘It has come to my attention, Henley, that you falsified your age on your application.’ ”

In Twohy's words, “despite or maybe because of being California-based,” he has managed to come up with plenty of ideas that appeal to the editors and readers of The New Yorker.

“A lot of people have assumed that I lived in New York,” Twohy said. “The majority of regular cartoonists do not live in New York. I think being in California does give me a little more of a slant. I think my political slant fits in fine with The New Yorker, and they’ve been going more political in recent years.”

Nonetheless, it’s not easy to sell print cartoons. Twohy currently sends “a batch of a dozen ideas a week” to The New Yorker. But demand for cartoons at the magazine is down, according to Twohy. "Everyone who submits feels lucky to get a sale,” he said.

Publishing cartoons in other publications “used to be how I made my living,” Twohy said. At one time, 50 different magazines were taking his cartoons.

“[But] free-lance cartooning has gotten a lot tougher, for several reasons,” said Twohy: “Magazines are using more photos now than they used to and a different type of graphic layout that doesn’t seem to be as accepting of panel cartoons.”

 In part because of the change in cartoon markets, Twohy would like to make a transition into book-writing. For Twohy there are similarities in method between book-writing and cartooning.

“With the cartoons I start doodling first. I see what develops, and I add the verbal elements after things get going on the page,” Twohy said. “The main similarity with children’s books is that I do like to have humorous cartoons and illustrations that move the story along.”

Twohy grew up in Palo Alto, and while in high school, he drew a regular feature called “Athlete of the Month” for the school newspaper. He wound up in the East Bay because, he said, “I went to UC and just stayed on.”

After many years in Rockridge, he and his wife decided to move to Kensington when they had kids. He likes the small-town feel of Kensington, as well as the easy access to Berkeley, San Francisco, and Tilden Park.

Writing and illustrating a book for children gives Twohy a different type of satisfaction from drawing cartoons.

“I’ve got a new audience. I’m actually pleased. I’ve gone on-line to see that various libraries are stocking the books, and they’re actually checked out,” he said.

Twohy is well into his second book for children, which features Rupert the Rooster, who, Twohy said, “gets a lot of help from his barnyard friends.” To get the details right this time, “maybe I’ll go down to the Little Farm.”

All seats are already taken for the appearance by Mike Twohy and other author/illustrators for children at Kidquake, held at the San Francisco Public Library on October 12th. Details are available at the Litquake website.

Correction: The original version of this article incorrectly gave "Adams" as the spelling of the last name of New Yorker cartoonist Charles Addams. It has been corrected.