Henry Payne speaks Tuesday to Republican Club

Henry Payne will speak to the Eastside Republican Club 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 17, at the Grosse Pointe War Memorial.

Ken Chadwell, ERC chairman, cited Payne’s wide-ranging interests in a statement in advance of the meeting.

“Mr. Payne is a student of history and closely follows current events, so in the midst of Inauguration Day preparations, we are eager to hear his perspective on the times,” Chadwell said.

“As an auto critic and syndicated editorial cartoonist, we also look forward to hearing what’s next for the auto industry and to watch him demonstrate his creative drawing skills,” Chadwell added.

Payne is The Detroit News auto critic, a syndicated editorial cartoonist, and opinion writer. A 30-year newspaper veteran, Payne’s auto column appears twice weekly in The News.

He also produces a weekly video and "Car-toon."

The lifetime motorhead is a Pulitzer-Prize-nominated cartoonist, has published three books, and is an active racecar driver.

His work is reprinted in USA Today, National Review, Townhall.com and other publications.

Payne has been voted Best Editorial Cartoonist in Michigan by the Associated Press.

Born in Charleston, West Virginia, Payne received a degree in history from Princeton University in 1984. As editorial cartoonist for two student newspapers, The Daily Princetonian and the Nassau Weekly, Payne won the College Media Advisers Cartoon Contest and the Tribune Company Syndicate’s National College Cartoonist’s Contest.

Upon graduation from Princeton, Payne began his newspaper career as staff artist and editorial cartoonist with the Charleston (WV) Daily Mail. In 1986 he joined Scripps Howard News Service and began syndication with United Feature in 1987.

The Eastside Republican Club Forum meets monthly from September to June. Admission is free and the public is always welcome. Stay up-to-date and "like" the ERC on Facebook.