http://thestory.org/archive/the_story_781_A_Hard_Time_For_The_Funnies.mp3 A newly syndicated cartoonist reflects on a declining industry. Also: tracing the source of a mysterious illness. Plone 2.0 http://thestory.org/archive/the_story_781_A_Hard_Time_For_The_Funnies.mp3/logo.jpg http://thestory.org/archive/the_story_781_A_Hard_Time_For_The_Funnies.mp3 <h4>A Hard Time for the Funny Pages</h4><p class="imageleft"><img class="image-left" src="resolveuid/15c56e4f7dc101c74acdae7a1338cd01" alt="Keith Knight" height="100" width="100" />Keith Knight</p><p>Keith Knight wanted to be a cartoonist ever since he did a high school report on Animal Farm in the form of a comic book. Keith's teacher gave him an A-plus. The life of a cartoonist was not easy and certainly wasn't lucrative. But Keith caught a big break last year when he launched his first syndicated comic strip, which started running in many high profile papers. <br /></p><p>Then the bottom fell out of the newspaper industry. Keith has lost some distribution as newspapers across the country continue to fold, but he's managed to keep his head above water. Keith talks with Dick Gordon about keeping up with his always looming daily deadline, and his life in the funny pages.</p><ul><li>See the cartoons Keith mentions in the interview, <a href="resolveuid/2fc0e94947a198a1f062722cd92554d2">One Black Kid</a> and <a href="resolveuid/fd128e5704c44a802b77d01c4716ab5b">Great Depression</a><br /></li><li>See Keith’s <a href="http://www.kchronicles.com/">weekly</a> and <a href="http://www.knightlifecomic.com/">daily</a> strips</li></ul><a class="addbtn" href="http://www.publicradio.org/applications/formbuilder/user/form_display.php?form_code=608cc948ba9b" target="_self">Contact Us</a><br /><h4>Cough Syrup Sleuth</h4><p class="imageleft"><img class="image-left" src="resolveuid/0793c371aad96696c4cc9cb7425ac00e" alt="Danielle Rentz" height="100" width="100" />Danielle Rentz</p><p>A few years ago in Panama, people were getting sick and dying and no one knew why. Doctors at one hospital only knew that 21 patients came in with similar symptoms, and 19 of those patients died. So the Panamanian government asked for help from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Danielle Rentz is an epidemiologist with the CDC who was assigned to work on the Panama case. She talks with Dick about the detective work it takes to figure out what's causing the spread of such an illness, how it feels to solve the puzzle, and why the Panama mystery was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.</p><p><a class="addbtn" href="http://www.publicradio.org/applications/formbuilder/user/form_display.php?form_code=608cc948ba9b" target="_self">Contact Us</a></p><p><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document" /><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11" /><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11" /><link href="file:///C:\DOCUME~1\CPRINC~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\msohtml1\01\clip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List" /><style></style><a href="http://www.kchronicles.com/"></a></p> Tue, 26 May 2009 05:00:00