Finalist: Star Tribune, by Steve Sack

To the judges:

Editorial cartoonist Steve Sack has entertained and provoked readers of the Star Tribune opinion pages for more than 30 years. We expect no less from one of the best in the business.

Last year was rich with targets for Sack, and he delivered some of the best work of his career. From Bill Cosby's troubles to Jimmy Carter's health problems and the scourge of gun violence, the cartoons in this entry reveal Sack's great range. "I wish I understood the process better. Or maybe it's good that I don't," Sack once said of his work. "In my crazy way, this is my form of art. Basically I draw these for myself. They have to interest me, an expression of how I look at the world, either how it is and how I don't like it, or how it is and how I want to change it."

Steve's style is unique and his point of view is clear. He can be laugh-out-loud funny one day and sadly reflective the next. Steve typically does five cartoons a week, and most of our readers would rather he never take a vacation. His year-end "Best of Sack," which this year included many of the 2015 cartoons in this entry, remains one of our most popular annual features.

There's little doubt Steve sees the world from a Minnesota perspective. He was born in Saint Paul and attended the University of Minnesota, where he started doing editorial cartoons for the school paper. After three years at the Journal Gazette in Indiana, Steve was hired by the Star Tribune. He has won numerous honors for his work, most significantly the Clifford K. and James T. Berryman Award in 2006. He was a Pulitzer finalist in 2007 and a winner in 2013.

Once again, the Star Tribune is proud to offer Steve's work for consideration for a Pulitzer Prize in Editorial Cartooning.

Sincerely,

Scott Gillespie

Editorial Page Editor and Vice President