Cartoonist always tackled controversy
Westlake resident worked at Daily News for 25 years
By Shuhei Matsuo Special to the Acorn

Jim Thompson

Jim Thompson always enjoyed receiving hate mail from readers. He still takes pleasure in people who oppose his expressive opinions.

"I always thought I would really have made it as a cartoonist if I got a death threat," said Thompson, a 22-year resident of Westlake Village.

"I get a kick out of people writing letters," he said. "And it wasn't the people that liked my stuff- I got a kick out of people who hated my stuff."

Thompson, a former sports cartoonist for the L.A. Daily News, says the most important aspect of cartooning is to express ideas that are both funny and topical.

Because of his harsh opinions on sports, he often received "Thompson, you are an idiot" phone calls and e-mails during his time in the newspaper industry.

"I think they are funny," Thompson said of the readers' reactions. "I never took them personally because sports are such a personal type of thing that people are just nutty about their teams."

One time, when he drew a cartoon about Nebraska being dominated by Miami in college football, Thompson received more than a few responses that questioned his knowledge of the game.

Cartoon courtesy of Jim Thompson NO FOOLING AROUND- Throughout the years, Westlake resident and cartoonist Jim Thompson never shied away from hot topics in sports, including steroids in baseball, above, Laker coach Phil Jackson's Triangle Offense, below, and Raider fans, bottom left.

Readers asked, "Did you ever play the game?" He did, actually. In fact, Thompson played football, baseball and competed on the track team in high school.

Thompson began drawing at age 3, and he started his cartoon career with a paper in the Valley, where he'd grown up. At the time he was working in the political section of the paper but decided it would be interesting to draw sports cartoons.

Profound knowledge in sports and outstanding artistic skills, however, weren't enough for Thompson to get his foot in the door at the Daily News. It was in the early 1980s when his first attempt to pitch the idea of running cartoons in the sports section failed miserably.

Cartoon courtesy of Jim Thompson

"I pitched the idea and (the sports editor) was such a numskull and so old-hat that he just didn't want anything to do with editorial sports cartooning," Thompson recalled.

"Literally, he got up from the desk, grabbed me by the arm and threw me out of the office."

Fortunately, Thompson got another chance two months later when the surly sports editor was replaced with Joe Jares, who was very receptive to running cartoons.

"I've always been a sports cartoon fan," Jares said. "When I was the editor, there were a lot of sports cartoonists around, and I thought it would be nice to have Jim's cartoons in our section."

Jares hired Thompson soon after he became the Daily News' sports editor in 1981.

"It was timing," Thompson said. "He loved the idea, and he was the right guy."

After 25 years, however, the Daily News cut its sports cartoons because of budgetary constraints. Tom Hoffarth, a sports media columnist at the paper, said he misses the cartoons in the sports section. It's an opinion that many readers share, Hoffarth said.

Cartoon courtesy of Jim Thompson

"To me, Jim has been a missing piece of our newspaper," Hoffarth said. "I was always looking forward to see his cartoons every week."

Soon after he left the Daily News, Thompson began freelance drawing for the Salt Lake Tribune in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was let go earlier this year because of cutbacks at the paper.

"Weekly sports cartoonists are not an essential thing anymore, especially with recession in the journalism industry," Jares said.

Although he's not currently working for a paper, it hasn't stopped Thompson from expressing his creative side.

Thompson still draws cartoons for fun and also does bronzes. His website, www.thompsonsportsart.com, chronicles his work.

Other than working as an attorney- that's his day job- cartooning and creating bronzes, Thompson still enjoys playing sports, although a recent shoulder surgery keeps him away from any vigorous physical activity.

"Hopefully, in six months, I'll be able to play golf again," he said.