For outstanding service to journalism in Tennessee, CHARLIE DANIEL is inducted into the 2018 class of the Tennessee Journalism Hall of Fame.
Charlie served in the Marine Corps and received a political science degree from the University of North Carolina.
He began editorial cartooning for the Knoxville Journal in 1958, and moved to the Knoxville News Sentinel in 1992. In the decades since he has produced an estimated 15-thousand editorial cartoons, and as an octogenarian has recently expanded into producing a weekly comic strip and has begun colorizing his cartoons.
Charlie's cartoons blend sharp but gentle humor, with a world view that peels away pretense. Even those he skewers collect his cartoons. A few years ago a sitting judge was convicted of buying drugs from a criminal defendant. Charlie, of course, created an editorial cartoon, and the judge soon asked if he could have the original copy as a memento.
Charlie has said, "I think what I've always tried to do or say is, 'Loosen up and chill out. People just get so uptight over stuff'."
In addition to his media work, Charlie has drawn cartoons for church cookbooks, has created characters for t-shirts, and programs for nonprofit organizations such as the Volunteer Ministry Center and Baptist Health Systems Foundation.
Charlie has been the co-chairman of the Dogwood Arts Festival, president of the Fork Union Military Academy Alumni Board and currently serves on the Fork Union Military Academy Capital Campaign Committee.
Exhibits of his cartoons have been on display at East Tennessee State University, Roane State Community College, the University of Tennessee, and the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge.
Throughout his long and distinguished career, Charlie Daniel has brought great credit to himself, the field of journalism, his community, and the state of Tennessee.
