By Michael Motes

The talent behind the proverbial pen “mightier than the sword” now appearing on the editorial page of the Bulletin is that of Dave McGill, whose cartoon this week marks his seventh contribution to the archdiocesan newspaper.

The easy-going, soft-spoken native of Slidell, Louisiana, says that he has been drawing since he was old enough to hold a pencil. His drawings have appeared in nine newspapers to date, including a series on new math currently running in the weekly Decatur-DeKalb News. The series is based on a booklet which McGill prepared and which will be printed in the future.

McGill and his family – wife Carolyn and children Michael, age 10, Gayle, age 7 and Meghan, age 2 – moved to Atlanta in 1966 when he accepted a teaching position at Georgia Tech. Prior to coming to Atlanta he spent six years at LSU in Baton Rouge where he received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering.

While living and attending school in Baton Rouge he worked as cartoonist for the LSU newspaper, the Daily Reveille, and as sports cartoonist for the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate.

After leaving Baton Rouge McGill attended the University of Kansas where he received his Ph.D. degree. In Kansas he became involved in the Christian Family Movement, an activity which he continued after moving to Atlanta.

“I really didn’t understand much about my faith until I moved to Atlanta,” he says. “That was through my own fault, because I had wonderful examples in my parents. When I moved here and became involved with the Cursillo movement and the St. Vincent de Paul Society I took a much more active part in the church.”

The idea to submit cartoons to the Bulletin came to McGill as the result of Father James H. Sexstone’s homily at the midnight Mass last New Year’s Eve at Immaculate Heart of Mary.

“Father Sexstone challenged the congregation to put their talents to use to help serve the Lord. I had wanted an outlet for my cartoons since moving to Atlanta and after hearing Father Sexstone I did some praying and decided to contact Father Maciejewski and ask about doing political cartoons for the Bulletin.

When preparing ideas for Bulletin cartoons, McGill generally talks with Father Maciejewski in advance to determine what editorial topics are planned for future issues.

“Editorial cartoons were originally meant to complement the lead editorial of a newspaper,” McGill explained. “However, an editorial cartoon can stand on its own, such as the first one that I did for the Bulletin on the Vietnam War.”

McGill uses scripture references in his drawings. These appear under his signature on the cartoons. As a rule, the idea for the drawing comes first and then he seeks a reference in the scriptures to illustrate his point further. His original idea may vary once he has found the biblical passage he wishes to include.

“The best way to draw a cartoon, if it is at all possible, is with humor,” he says. “But often with editorial drawings illustrating a serious topic, such as abortion or the number of murders in Atlanta, humor cannot be used.”

His advice to would-be cartoonists is to develop an individual style as early as possible and take it from there. Although he has his personal favorites, McGill has never tried to imitate another cartoonist.

“I really enjoy Baldy, Eric, and Bill Daniels – the Atlanta cartoonists, locally. Outside Atlanta, I like the work of Paul Conrad of the Los Angeles Times, Bill Mauldin of the Chicago Sun-Times and of course Herblock of the Washington Post. These artists express the liberal side of things. There’s a relatively new cartoonist, Oliphant in Denver, whom I enjoy. On the more conservative side, I like Don Hesse of the St. Louis Globe Democrat.”

When not in the classroom at Tech, where he teaches dynamics and elastic stability, or at the drawing board, McGill keeps busy with other interests. One of his favorite pastimes is singing and he sings with the Folk Mass group at Immaculate Heart of Mary. Barbershop harmony also helps fill his spare time.

He is also an assistant leader with son Michael’s Cub Scout den from Heritage School, and in the spring and summer will be coaching little league soccer for the IHM team.