Marshall Ramsey

This is part of a month-long series of things I’m grateful for. So far, it has been my wife, my kids and my job. Today, it is the place that has helped shape me.

When I got the call about The Clarion-Ledger cartooning job back in 1996, I initially thought, naw. I had a great job in San Diego, California and enjoyed living there (it’s a great city). I also liked my co-workers. But I prayed about it and mailed in a packet of my work to David Hampton at The Clarion-Ledger.

Twenty-six years later, here I am.

I am not a Mississippian by birth. But Amy and I are from Marietta, Georgia and knew we wanted to start a family. Being 400 miles from them instead of a continent away was a huge selling point. And let’s be honest: San Diego is paradise for weather but Mississippi is paradise for political cartoonists. I’ve had great material to work with. I’ve been named a two-time Pulitzer Finalist while working for a smaller newspaper. That says a lot about the material I’ve had to draw about over the years. If the judges had met Frank Melton, I’d have won four years in a row!

I’m grateful for my crack team of comedy writers in the state Capitol building.

I initially thought I’d do a Deion Sanders — come in for a couple of years and move onto the next big thing. But something happened — I liked it here and loved the people who I worked with. I almost moved to Tulsa (way more money) but stayed here after I got a raise (which was then taken away, but I digress). Amy found a great teaching job and our boys were in fantastic schools where they thrived. That was a big reason why we didn’t go to Tulsa. I also knew the newspaper business was about to struggle; I had better chance of surviving here. And once again, with my parents being elderly, it was better to be closer to Atlanta. I bought a new car and put 50,000 miles in one year when they got sick. I am grateful I was close enough to be able to be with them before they died.

When I took the job here, the main reason was because of the people.

While on my interview, I fell in love with the folks I met. I feel like Mississippi has made me a better person. I’m less naive and it helped honed some of the rough edges off me personally. Mississippi challenges you daily — and can be a source of growth if you allow it. It’s also a land of storytellers who tell our complicated story beautifully through the arts. I love our artistic, musical and writing communities — while I’m probably not a part of any of those groups, I have loved getting to know and interview them. I do a lot of things now — someone asked me what I do and I replied, “I’m a storyteller.” I couldn’t have done that without Mississippi.

I don’t know what the future will bring but I am very grateful for the time I have spent here. I will keep telling stories for as long as I can. And I am grateful for the good, the bad, and the blessings they both have brought.

P.S. A quick shout out to Dan Turner for telling me about the job and for David Hampton for hiring me at the C-L. Mississippi wasn’t on my bingo card growing up, but I feel like I won because it’s on there now.

“You have to assemble your life yourself, action by action.” – Marcus Aurelius

I had a dream the other night that I was back in college. I was in the same dorm and even had the same freshman roommate. But this time around, I didn’t go down to The Daily Beacon (Student Newspaper) and didn’t draw cartoons — because I was lazy.

I literally am who I am because I had the courage to try out for the cartooning job (even after my advisor told me not to bother). Looking backwards, I realize how each step brought me to where I am today. And I think my dream was a reminder to stay busy. I did the work back then. I have to do it now. Urgency is the key — but there is also something else.

Seeing into the future is harder than looking back.

Obviously it is harder to look forward and see where you’re going. That requires planning. And as I am getting older, I don’t have the time to waste like I did when I was 20. I can’t bounce from rock to rock as my raft floats down the stream. I need to paddle with purpose. The last chapters of my life will require more outlining as I assemble them.