Editor and Publisher has a leaked list a the likely Pulitzer Prize finalists for this year and former Times Picayune editorial cartoonist Walt Handelsman (won one in 1997, currently at Newsday) is on that list.

Wow!

Walt Handelsman is good friends with my dad so I pulled some strings and got his phone number. He says the entry for the Pulitzer included 10 traditional or standard cartoons and 10 animated cartoons all of which appear on Newsday.com/walt. All of the animations were created in Adobe Flash which he taught himself how to use over the last year or so. This is the first year the Pulitzer board has accepted online content as part of the submissions and Walt asked the entry board upfront if his Flash animations would be allowed before submitting them. Since Walt was once a New Orleanian (did I mention he won a Pulitzer ten years ago while with the Times Picayune) many of his cartoons reference New Orleans including one standard one and one animation that were part of his Pulitzer entry. He is honored to be a finalist for this prestigious award. Plus he thinks it is great that the board has decided to recognize his work with digital media, learning Flash and bringing the main stream media's editorial arm into a new era online. For this alone I think he should win. To the city of New Orleans he wanted to say:

"My family and I deeply miss New Orleans. We are huge Saints fans who loud cheers echoed throughout our apartment complex this past year. We were thrilled that our friend Chris Rose was the King of the Krewe du Vieux. And we love to comeback to visit at least four times a year."

Thanks for the interview Walt. Congratulations on becoming a finalist for this year's Editorial Cartooning Pulitzer Prize. I know you'll win.

edit: According to the Daily Cartoonist the Houston Chronicle's Nick Anderson may have submitted his animations as well.

edit 2: Update to the Daily Cartoonist says that the third finalist, Mike Thompson of the Detroit Free Press, also included animated Flash content in his entry. Its an Adobe Pulitzer year!