NEW ZEALAND POST WRITERS & READERS WEEK

GARRY TRUDEAU, STAR PERFORMER

I must say that the quality of chairmanship at this Week has been uniformly high with three Radio New Zealand broadcasters in particular setting a very high standard. Lynne Freeman on the opening gala evening, Kim Hill with three NZ scientists and again with Ruth Reichl, and chairing the discussion with Garry Trudeau, Sean Plunkett.

Plunkett knew his subject well, obviously a great, long-term fan of the Doonsebury strip.

I'm used to being one of the older members at literary festivals these days but interestingly I was more like the median age at this event. Then when Trudeau began talking about his 38 years creating the Doonesbury strip, it started back during the Vietnam War years, I realised why. This audience was made up largely of fans from way back.

Plunkett described him as graphic artist, cartoonist, political comentator and suggested he is the most widely published cartoonist of all time, (syndicated to 1400 newspapers around the world). Later Trudeau defined himself as a satirist cartoonist.

This was another hugely entertaining session and listening to Trudeau talk on a wide variety of subjects you could understand why he is so successful. He came across as intelligent, humane, funny, and saw himself first and foremost as an entertainer, even if at time that humour is of the black satire variety. Among the subjects he talked about were deadlines, media proliferation, You Tube, The Tonight Show, the characters he has created, his view of the US militray today & 38 years ago, his work as an advocate for soldiers badly injured in Iraq, and the forthcoming US presidential elections.