I’m still reeling from the news that Robert Arial lost his job at The State newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina.  Robert sent me this note:

Hey, Daryl,

Sorry I haven’t gotten back to you before now- I’ve been inundated with mail, e-mail and phone calls that I’ve tried to answer and thank everyone for all of their kind words and thoughts. I never thought getting laid off would lead to so much work! As for getting the boot, it wasn’t a surprise. I saw this coming for nearly a year. It still stings nonetheless.

I will continue to work for United Media, so my cartoons will continue to be seen on  your site. I’ve also just started a web site: robertariail.com that I will post my new cartoons on (as well as an archive of my work from my 25 plus years with The State.) And as tough as this market is , I’m going to start sending out my resume’ to papers and see if anything comes from it. One hopeful sign already is that my publisher told me not to be surprised if he called me to return to work at the end of 2009 (the buy- out I took legally prevents them from rehiring during the calendar year.)

All said, it’s not so bad. I’ve always had an optimistic outlook and I believe that if one door closes another opens - you just have to find that door! This situation also allows me more time to work on our historic home here in Camden, S.C. (anyone with an old house knows there’s always something that needs to be done.)

Thanks for all of your support and help.

Warm regards
Robert

Robert’s syndicated cartoons will continue to appear on our site.  See Robert’s archive.  Here’s a sample: