Baptist News Global
Sections
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Opinion
  • Curated
  • Storytelling
    • Faith & Justice >
      • Charleston: Metanoia with Bill Stanfield
      • Charlotte: QC Family Tree with Greg and Helms Jarrell
      • Little Rock: Judge Wendell Griffen
      • North Carolina: Conetoe
    • Welcoming the Stranger >
      • Lost Boys of Sudan: St. John’s Baptist Charlotte
      • Awakening to Immigrant Justice: Myers Park Baptist Church
      • Hospitality on the corner: Gaston Christian Center
    • Signature Ministries >
      • Jake Hall: Gospel Gothic, Music and Radio
    • Singing Our Faith >
      • Hymns for a Lifetime: Ken Wilson and Knollwood Baptist Church
      • Norfolk Street Choir
    • Resilient Rural America >
      • Alabama: Perry County
      • Texas: Hidalgo County
      • Arkansas Delta
      • Southeast Kentucky
  • More
    • Contact
    • About
    • Donate
    • Associated Baptist Press Foundation
    • Planned Giving
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Advertising
    • Ministry Jobs and More
    • Transitions
    • Subscribe
    • Submissions and Permissions
Donate Subscribe
Search Search this site

Baptist layman Charlie Daniel: six decades of courage, compassion and wit as an editorial cartoonist

NewsJeff Brumley  |  June 29, 2020

Charlie Daniel was called a lot of things during more than six decades as a newspaper cartoonist in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Some of the names are unprintable. Others are just amusing.

“I got some letters and emails over the years saying, ‘Why don’t you quit?’” says Daniel, 90, a lifelong Baptist and Marine Corps veteran unafraid of skewering politicians, causes and even the coronavirus with his drawings.

The hall-of-fame editorial cartoonist did eventually retire in February 2019 at age 89, leaving him with only one nickname that puzzles him: “the gentle eviscerator.”

Daniel admits the term bestowed on him by a writer perplexes him.

“I’m still looking up ‘eviscerator,’” he says with a laugh during an interview at his Knoxville home earlier this year. “Once I figure that out, then I’ll comment on that.”

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander explains a Charlie Daniel drawing on the floor of the U.S. Senate. (Photo/Sen. Lamar Alexander)

But there are plenty of others lining up to comment on that. Family members, ministers, civic leaders, politicians are eager for a chance to explain why the moniker fits – and why it’s a term of endearment.

They describe a man whose sharp wit and humorous, original drawing style is filtered through a compassion born of faith and an easy-going personality.

“He can criticize you and do it in a way that was is civilized,” says U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican who was often the butt of Daniel’s cartoons. “Even when he was poking at me, he would do it in a gentle way.”

Daniel was unafraid to take aim at politicians and other leaders, regardless of influence and public endearment, Alexander and others say. A few years back, he even jabbed at Harry Moskos, then-editor of the rival Knoxville News-Sentinel newspaper.

“And I loved it,” says Moskos, who would later hire Daniel when the Knoxville Journal closed in 1992. “It shows that you can disagree with somebody but be cordial.”

‘You don’t come across as mean’

Drawing cartoons on dicey political topics without being ugly just comes naturally, says Daniel, who was born in Richmond, Virginia. But he’s uncomfortable attributing it to piety, as some others do.

“Faith is my foundation, but I never went into drawing a cartoon saying, ‘how’s that going to balance with my belief in Jesus?’ and all that,” he says. “That’s just built in and I never really thought about it.”

The faith influence behind Daniel’s drawings may be more apparent to others.

A panel from Daniel’s popular comic strip, “Rosy’s Diner.” (Image/Courtesy of Charlie Daniel)

“I see him trying to evidence the mind of Christ. He’s servant oriented,” says Bob Hall, former director of the Baptist Collegiate Ministry at the University of Tennessee and Daniel’s Sunday school teacher at First Baptist Church in downtown Knoxville.

Daniel gives freely of himself to those in need, Hall says. Never stingy with his time, Daniel regularly addresses student groups on campus, entertains hospitalized children and displays an abiding concern for homeless people.

No wonder Daniel wasn’t mean spirited in his newspaper drawings, Hall says.

“When you are that way in your heart, you don’t come across as mean.”

‘We had to memorize scripture’

Patsy Daniel guesses her husband can’t readily see the spirituality in his work because his faith was instilled “from the get-go” in a rock-solid Christian home in Weldon, North Carolina, where he was raised.

“His family have always been very strong Baptists,” she says. “He just grew up that way.”

That upbringing wasn’t only Baptist, but also progressive.

Daniel presents a drawing to Billy Graham during the evangelist’s 1970 crusade in Knoxville, Tenn.

“People would probably call it liberal these days,” Daniel adds.

His father was a deacon at Weldon Baptist Church and so was his mother, an uncommon role for Baptist women at that time. But Weldon’s members didn’t think twice about a woman in leadership, Daniel recalls.

“It was biblical, for Pete’s sake.”

Naturally, the family was always at church and Daniel says he couldn’t help but become infused with a compassionate Baptist Christianity.

“It was osmosis.My father was a Sunday school teacher. My mother eventually became the choir director.”

He and church friends were doing Bible sword drills before they were called sword drills, he adds.

“We had to memorize scripture.”

‘Did you set that up?’

There were other influences – powerful ones like football coaches and military drill instructors.

Always athletic growing up, Daniel was a high school football star who was highly recruited by colleges.

“I had 11 scholarship offers,” he says. “I visited Tennessee, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Furman, the University of Richmond, Wake Forest and North Carolina.”

Growing up in the Tar Heel State, however, cinched it. He went on to start at the University of North Carolina his freshman year.

But the Korean conflict was raging, and soon Uncle Sam started calling the plays for Daniel. He entered the Marine Corps and trained for the infantry but narrowly missed going to Korea – a fact his prayerful family back home saw as divine intervention.

“Oh yes, we all think that,” Patsy says.

Daniel struggles with that conclusion, however, saying it overlooks why so many others suffered because of the war. His best friend died in Korea.

“They certainly believe in divine intervention,” he says of the family. “But I just don’t know. I’ll ask the Lord later on, ‘Did you set that up?’”

‘I developed my own style’

Daniel returned to UNC after his discharge from the Marines, but football was no longer in the cards for him.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Daniel has used his drawings to promote public safety. (Image/Charlie Daniel)

“The other players were bigger and faster and meaner, so that was the end of my football stuff.”

His coursework wasn’t any more promising.

“I was studying accounting and in way over my head,” he says.

Then a neighbor, who worked for the college newspaper, noticed Daniel was always sketching.

“He saw these doodles I was drawing. I just drew cartoons for my own entertainment.”

The neighbor connected Daniel with the editor, who liked what he saw. That was in 1955, and he was off on a new career track.

“Originally, my editorial cartoons were a rip off of other editorial cartoonists,” he says. “Slowly I developed my own style, which was more of a comic-strip style.”

That style did not include attacking people.

“I never liked that; it wasn’t my nature,” he says. “I felt like I was more of a humorist, and humorists make you laugh and also think.”

‘The best editorial cartoons’

After a lot of rejections – Daniel keeps a huge binder full of those letters – he landed a job at the Knoxville Journal in 1958. He found his niche there and developed a fan following with his drawings about sports and politics.

In his home, Daniel shares a scrap book filled with rejection letters from the 1950s. (Photo/Jeff Brumley)

When that paper closed, he was hired on at the News-Sentinel where he worked more than 25 years until his retirement.

Along the way, he ventured into side comic strip projects.

And he’s shown far too much humility along the way, says Ed Gamble, a syndicated editorial cartoonist who has collaborated with Daniel and formerly drew for The Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville, Florida.

“His characters and words were always so much funnier compared to other (editorial) cartoonists.”

Gamble grew up near Knoxville and was inspired by Daniel’s humorous characters and dialogue.

“The way it looks is funny and the way it reads is funny,” he says.

Even those who disliked Daniel’s work usually found find it amusing, he adds.

“They read him for 60 years and saw what a good guy he is.”

Those qualities convinced Moskos to hire Daniel when he had the chance.

“His were the best editorial cartoons I have ever seen,” he says.

‘These are historic times’

Newspaper readers haven been sole beneficiaries of Daniel’s witty drawings over the years, said Bruce Spangler, CEO of the Volunteer Ministry Center, a Knoxville non-profit dedicated to ending and preventing homelessness.

Daniel has been involved with the center for close to 25 years, including service as a member and chairman of the board.

Daniel recently presented the ministry a coloring book containing cartoons about University of Tennessee football, some dating back to 1959.

 

Daniel’s take on Easter in a time of pestilence. (Image/Charlie Daniel)

“He retraced them by hand – 80 of them,” Spangler says. “He called it the Big Orange Coloring Book.”

Daniel is moved to action from his concern for others, Spangler says.

“The thing about Charlie is he wants to be with his neighbors who struggle in his community.For him to turn his back on them would be to turn his back on Jesus.”

It’s why he draws for children in their hospital rooms, Hall adds.

“He uses his skill set to serve.He uses his giftedness to serve.”

Daniel  has continued that service in retirement and has found another positive outlet for his drawing during COVID-19 pandemic: drawing and publishing cartoons urging readers to take safety precautions to stay healthy.

“Sometimes I wish I was still working,” he says. “These are historic times.”

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
Tags:volunteersBaptistTennesseeUSMCMarine CorpsCharlie DanielLamar AlexanderHarry MoskosUniversity of TennesseeSouthern Baptist ConventionBig OrangeBilly GrahamKorean War
More by
Jeff Brumley
  • Get BNG headlines in your inbox

  • Featured

    • First they came for them, then they came for us

      Opinion

    • U.S. immigration policies are harming persecuted Christians, evangelical leaders warn

      News

    • Hispanic students report highest levels of discrimination in some educational institutions

      News

    • Idolatry is alive and well today

      Opinion


    Curated

    • As psychedelic-assisted therapy grows, so does interest from a new group: chaplains

      As psychedelic-assisted therapy grows, so does interest from a new group: chaplains

    • Victims march to Rome to demand ‘zero tolerance’ on church abuse

      Victims march to Rome to demand ‘zero tolerance’ on church abuse

    • AI Has No Place in the Pulpit

      AI Has No Place in the Pulpit

    • This Christian text you’ve never heard of, The Shepherd of Hermas, barely mentions Jesus − but it was a favorite of early Christians far and wide

      This Christian text you’ve never heard of, The Shepherd of Hermas, barely mentions Jesus − but it was a favorite of early Christians far and wide

    Read Next:

    SoConCon links Focus on the Family with secular politics of Heritage Foundation and Koch groups

    NewsSteve Rabey

    More Articles

    • All
    • News
    • Opinion
    • Curated
    • First Fresh Expressions United Methodist gathering won’t go to Florida

      NewsCynthia Astle

    • 50 years later, Celebrate Life still is the wind we soar on

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom allegedly ‘manufactured’ wedding cases to battle gay rights

      NewsSteve Rabey

    • Never say never: The Now and Forever Windows at the National Cathedral

      OpinionGreg Garrett, Senior Columnist

    • LBJ’s Great Society hurt Blacks more than slavery, Tim Scott declares

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • For the Bible tells me so: The Bible and the Civil Rights movement

      OpinionKaitlyn Schiess

    • Candidates seek to increase LGBTQ representation in public office

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Templeton Foundation funds first-of-its-kind research into the religious ‘nones’

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Listen to the woman: Cassidy Hutchinson

      OpinionJulia Goldie Day

    • Cats and dogs at Bubba-Doo’s

      OpinionCharles Qualls

    • Hispanic students report highest levels of discrimination in some educational institutions

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Idolatry is alive and well today

      OpinionNapoleon Harris

    • Conspiracy theories link Jesus, JFK and Trump

      NewsSteve Rabey

    • First they came for them, then they came for us

      OpinionBill Leonard, Senior Columnist

    • Ministry jobs and more

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • U.S. immigration policies are harming persecuted Christians, evangelical leaders warn

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • The importance of remembering the March on Washington in 2023

      AnalysisJeremiah Bullock

    • Don’t call it burn-out

      OpinionTodd Thomason

    • SoConCon links Focus on the Family with secular politics of Heritage Foundation and Koch groups

      NewsSteve Rabey

    • Together for Hope names Appalachia director

      NewsBNG staff

    • Why potluck and Wednesday night dinners are important

      OpinionMaina Mwaura

    • Remembering BNG columnist Terry Austin

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Are Americans ‘spiritual’ or ‘religious’ or both or neither?

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Chi Alpha campus ministry leaders indicted in Texas

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Why the Haitian shoe seller can’t sell shoes

      AnalysisCynthia Vacca Davis

    • First Fresh Expressions United Methodist gathering won’t go to Florida

      NewsCynthia Astle

    • 50 years later, Celebrate Life still is the wind we soar on

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom allegedly ‘manufactured’ wedding cases to battle gay rights

      NewsSteve Rabey

    • LBJ’s Great Society hurt Blacks more than slavery, Tim Scott declares

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Candidates seek to increase LGBTQ representation in public office

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Templeton Foundation funds first-of-its-kind research into the religious ‘nones’

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Hispanic students report highest levels of discrimination in some educational institutions

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Conspiracy theories link Jesus, JFK and Trump

      NewsSteve Rabey

    • Ministry jobs and more

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • U.S. immigration policies are harming persecuted Christians, evangelical leaders warn

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • SoConCon links Focus on the Family with secular politics of Heritage Foundation and Koch groups

      NewsSteve Rabey

    • Together for Hope names Appalachia director

      NewsBNG staff

    • Remembering BNG columnist Terry Austin

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Are Americans ‘spiritual’ or ‘religious’ or both or neither?

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Chi Alpha campus ministry leaders indicted in Texas

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • This week’s BNG webinar: Amy Butler

      NewsBNG staff

    • A former victim of Boko Haram terrorism finds love in America; meanwhile, others remain in captivity 

      NewsAnthony Akaeze

    • Falwell accuses Liberty University of financial and sexual irregularities in legal filing

      NewsSteve Rabey

    • Samford students mark one-year anniversary with another silent protest for LGBTQ inclusion

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Most Americans see immigration as a good thing, but Republicans disagree

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • United Methodist court exonerates suspended Latina bishop on four charges

      NewsCynthia Astle

    • Kate Campbell is glad to be back in the room where it happens

      NewsMaina Mwaura

    • In South Africa, fire deaths shine a light on immigrant churches in ‘hijacked’ slum buildings”

      NewsRay Mwareya

    • Finding a pastor today is nothing like it was 30 years ago, consultants caution

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • SBC expels Oklahoma church over pastor’s racial impersonations

      NewsMaina Mwaura

    • Never say never: The Now and Forever Windows at the National Cathedral

      OpinionGreg Garrett, Senior Columnist

    • For the Bible tells me so: The Bible and the Civil Rights movement

      OpinionKaitlyn Schiess

    • Listen to the woman: Cassidy Hutchinson

      OpinionJulia Goldie Day

    • Cats and dogs at Bubba-Doo’s

      OpinionCharles Qualls

    • Idolatry is alive and well today

      OpinionNapoleon Harris

    • First they came for them, then they came for us

      OpinionBill Leonard, Senior Columnist

    • Don’t call it burn-out

      OpinionTodd Thomason

    • Why potluck and Wednesday night dinners are important

      OpinionMaina Mwaura

    • American idols: Andrew Whitehead on American faith and Christian nationalism

      OpinionGreg Garrett, Senior Columnist

    • Creating inner peace

      OpinionPhawnda Moore

    • ‘Nobody wants to be an addict’

      OpinionTambi Brown Swiney

    • Men and congregational singing: The rest of the story

      OpinionCharlie Fuller

    • Things Christians need to know, for our own sake, about Yom Kippur, Judaism’s Day of Atonement

      OpinionKen Sehested

    • The real religious crisis in America

      OpinionMartin Thielen

    • Fear of dancing and the courage to be serious

      OpinionGreg Jarrell

    • Ken and Angela Paxton do a little sidestep — while quoting Bible verses

      OpinionRodney Kennedy

    • This is why people are leaving the church

      OpinionJulia Goldie Day

    • Criticism of Andy Stanley is rooted in father wounds

      OpinionRick Pidcock

    • What do we mean by ‘affirming’?

      OpinionRobert P. Sellers

    • How long before a revolution?

      OpinionJamar A. Boyd II

    • On death

      OpinionGlen Schmucker

    • Al Mohler vs. Andy Stanley: What’s really going on?

      OpinionMark Wingfield

    • More religion in public schools raises concerns about religious liberty

      OpinionBryan Kelley

    • In biblical truth-telling, we need to mind the gap between clergy and laity

      OpinionMark Wingfield

    • A ‘sad day’ for America?

      OpinionRodney Kennedy

    • As psychedelic-assisted therapy grows, so does interest from a new group: chaplains

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Victims march to Rome to demand ‘zero tolerance’ on church abuse

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • AI Has No Place in the Pulpit

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • This Christian text you’ve never heard of, The Shepherd of Hermas, barely mentions Jesus − but it was a favorite of early Christians far and wide

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Greek court: Orthodox students cannot be exempted from religion classes

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Why separating fact from fiction is critical in teaching US slavery

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Everything is political, oh my! Why churches should build better capacity for political dialogue

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Pastors Wonder About Church Members Who Never Came Back Post-Pandemic

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Meeting between Jewish leaders and Benjamin Netanyahu broaches judicial overhaul — and gets personal

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • West Side Story: Diverse NY Church Represents 5 Continents

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • National Cathedral windows shift from themes of Confederacy to racial justice

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Culture War Is Not Spiritual Warfare

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • AI won’t be replacing your priest, minister, rabbi or imam any time soon

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Who is Siggy Flicker, the ‘Real Housewife’ behind Trump’s Rosh Hashanah message condemning ‘liberal Jews’?

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Ideological rifts among U.S. bishops are in the spotlight ahead of momentous Vatican meeting

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Two mainland China bishops to attend big Vatican meeting after tensions

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Nazi Germany had admirers among American religious leaders – and white supremacy fueled their support

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • How Japanese American Pastors Prepared Their Flocks For Internment

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Belly dancers, terrorists or taxi drivers: Arab American comedians spoof stereotypes

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Freedom struggles of China’s Christian rights lawyers

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • ‘Holy Food’ explores American history and religion through food

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Connecting With the Good News Generation

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • What’s the news impact of the intense racism investigation at Wheaton College?

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Who was Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Sikh activist whose killing has divided Canada and India?

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Riding a wave of converts, one group aims to fuse Orthodoxy with Southern values

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    Conversations that Matter.

    © 2023 Baptist News Global. All rights reserved.

    Want to share a story? We hope you will! Read our republishing, terms of use and privacy policies here.

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • RSS