71°
While Chast has a decades-long career of finding humor amidst heartbreak, in her 2014 graphic memoir “Can’t We Talk about Something More Pleasant?,” the cartoonist and only child chronicles caring for her elderly parents in the final years of their lives with quivery drawings and hand-written text — and with searing honesty and wrenching humor.
The book has garnered an abundance of attention from readers and critics alike and this most recent honor has a special meaning, as aging and end-of-life care issues were of great importance to the late U.S. Sen. John Heinz.
The Heinz Awards, established to honor his memory and now in their 20th year, recognizes extraordinary individuals for their creativity and determination in finding solutions to critical issues both here and abroad.
The recipient in each category receives a cash award of $250,000.
“Roz Chast’s work is accessible, thought provoking and filled with humanity. Her courageous, honest account of navigating her parents’ later years blended humor, artistry and heart-felt emotion. Through that work she shed new light on our society’s complicated relationship with aging while simultaneously defining a new genre of graphic memoir,” said Teresa Heinz, chairman of the Heinz Family Foundation. “She is a cartoonist, illustrator and writer whose mastery lies in helping us to laugh at our human foibles, to see that we are not alone in our struggles, and to frame the challenges we face in fresh new ways.”
More than 1,200 of Chast’s cartoons have graced the pages of The New Yorker, dating to 1978, when she was a recent college graduate. One of the first female cartoonists to be published there – and one of the youngest – Chast brought a unique style markedly different than anything the magazine published previously.
Since then, her illustrations have appeared in Scientific American, Harvard Business Review, Mother Jones, Redbook and a variety of other outlets. She also has published multiple collections of her own cartoons and illustrated several children’s books.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Ridgefield and receive free news updates.
