ROAD MAINTENANCE

I'm Measurin' Him For A New Suit Of Armor

Reg was candidate for the Pulitzer prize in editorial cartooning this year. For him in this field big things are predicted.

Presenting-- Reg Manning

Another citizen yet few know a great deal about Reg Manning. Some brief high-lights: Reginald West Manning was born in Kansas City, Missouri, April 8, 1905. He came to Phoenix in Dec. 1919, attended Wilson grammar school, and Phoenix Union High School, from which he was graduated in 1924. At the high school, his passion was art and all the art training he has ever received was received there from Mrs. Cordelia Perkins, head of the art department.

Drawing was his passion, and on the slightest provocation Reg (pronounced so as to rhyme with "wedge,") would whip In celebration of the main line of the Southern Pacific coming into Phoenix, the full page cartoon came into existence and that was the beginning of what is now the BIG PARADE.

Reg's BIG PARADE is a fine example of personal journalism. In this day of the metropolitan newspaper, the personal Touch is necessarily stifled and dulled by the impersonal view that the big city newspaper man must take toward his daily stint, toward the events and people that pass through the headlines. Reg's BIG PARADE is personal, and like Reg, kindly and neighborly. He records the current Arizona happenings. He points out interesting things to see, interesting things to do. In his Snooper's Column he gives the "low down" on our citizens, he maintains a serial cartoon of the west in the person of "Ruff Riter," and he maintains and has maintained an effec-

tive crusade against careless driving in

His "Traffic Jam."

Probably what will win for Reg Manning most fame and fortune are his editorial cartoons, in which he analyzes current events from the national and international viewpoints. In the past year many of his cartoons have been reproduced in leading journals of the Nation. He has become so well-known that his work has been syndicated and has been used regularly by as many as forty newspapers in the United States. His famous Canary cartoon, which appeared shortly after the Hitler invasion of Austria, created national comment. Good Arizona Democrats growl when his pen is pointed against the Roosevelt administration, but strange as it may seem Reg is accepted as heartily by the Democrats of Arizona as by the Republicans.

The "course of events" seem to be responsible for the development of Reg Manning. Chance, perhaps, directed Reg to the Arizona Republic as a photographer. When he displayed obvious talents for cartooning, he was encouraged by his paper, and under the encouragement he grew and developed. The Arizona Republic is justly proud of Reg Manning, because wise editors and sympathetic managers have been partly responsible for his "arrival" on the scene of the Nation's cartoon pages. Many a promising "kid" artist has graduated from high school only to perish in less artistic pursuits. The Arizona Republic gave Reg his "break" and the combination has proven most satisfactory to all.

A "chance," perhaps, is responsible for

"Reg Manning's Cartoon Guide of Ari-

zona out a drawing whatever the time or place. He was, as he describes himself, "an alleged free lance artist," for several years after leaving high school, and then he joined the staff of the Arizona Republic -and, of all things, as a photographer.

Reg does not hand himself any orchids as a photographer. What he considers his best "shot" hangs in the study of his home. It is a picture of the president of the United States, Calvin Coolidge, chatting affably with the governor of Arihis best "shot" hangs in the study of his home. It is a picture of the president of the United States, Calvin Coolidge, chatting affably with the governor of Arizona, John Phillips, during the dedication of Coolidge dam. A remarkably good shot, too.

From photographer, Reg "grew" into the cartoonist's job on the paper. A strip, "The Roundup," had been in ex-istence for some time, and it became his to keep up on the departure of a prede-cessor . As Reg's talents developed "The Roundup" developed until Oct. 7, 1926, in Arizona." J. J. Augustin, an Eastern pub-lisher, spending a leisurely winter in Arizona, admired Reg's BIG PARADE. He likewise developed a great fondness for Arizona, and conceived the idea of a travel guide with cartoon illustrations. He called on Reg and discussed the idea. It seemed to be a good one. Then when someone was needed to write the story of Arizona, the publisher suggested that Reg also do this writing. Bingo. The book clicked no end, and the first edition went like wildfire. The second edition is well along and there will be more edi-tions. Life is like that.

Mrs. White Mountain Smith, a writer of national renown, read Reg's book, was charmed by it, and has this to say:

REG MANNING SHOWS US A NEW ARIZONA

"Arizona is truly the Land of Wonders, but one never dreamed of such varied and assorted wonders as Reg Manning found when he toured the State from pine-covered northern heights to the Mexican Border.

"Combine a healthy imagination with unlimited energy, an overgrown curiosity and an unquenchable sense of humor and you have a composite picture of serious looking Reg Manning. It is not unusual to find an artist that can tell a lengthy story with a few well placed inky scrawls, and now and then a writer puts an idea over with words, but Fate has been kind to Reg and given him the gift of both words and pictures.

"In Reg Manning's Cartoon Guide of Arizona is packed a big dose of real information so sugar-coated with humor that one swallows it whole without knowing they have devoured a concentrated college course in Southwestern history, geography, botany and geology. From the very first page, yes, the very first word on the first page, interest never flags until the final period on the last page. And even then I turned that sheet to see if, by some kind chance, there might be a postscript!

"Reg knows his Arizona and loves it intensely. Whether he pictures a Gila Monster in the South or a Snake Dance in the Hopi Mesas, this Native Son sheds a kindly light over the scene. Like Kipling he has 'written the story for a sheltered people's mirth' and, I like to think with very much the same feeling Kipling had for his adopted people.

"The Cartoon Guide is not a thick

Now We Are One

book. It fits snugly in a pocket or a handbag, but it contains authentic information along with its power to show the traveler Arizona through rainbow-colored glasses. On each page is one of Reg's unmistakable cartoons. One of the chief charms of his drawings is that they never are malicious, no matter what the subject. The little book has appeal not only for those who live in Arizona, but for everybody that has ever visited the State or even hopes to visit it. Folded into a pocket on the inside cover is a complete map of Arizona, showing in picture the places and objects of interest in every part of Arizona. That map alone is worth the price of the book, One Dollar. The initial printing of the book, 3500 copies, was sold out in three days after it appeared on the market, and Augustin of New York, who first persuaded Reg to prepare the book, hastened to start the presses rolling turning out additional copies.

Anyone collecting Southwestern books will add a real jewel to his collection when this little volume is added.

"We who know and love Arizona, and we who know and love the clever cartoons of Reg Manning, sincerely hope this book is merely the beginning of his literary productions."

And so continues the story of Reg Manning. What next? We all say: "I wonder what Reg Manning is going to do next?" We're proud of him in this state. He's personally likable, modest almost to the degree of shyness. He's young, and industrious. He's a good citizen and a good neighbor. His charm is in his kindliness, which can be illustrated by the simple dedication of his book:

Dedicated to the Little Burro

Without his aid, many of these trails might never have been opened. We proudly, indeed, present Reg Manning.