ENTERTAINMENT

Iowa farmer cartoonist returns to paper that fired him

Charly Haley

chaley@dmreg.com

An Iowa farmer's illustrated cartoons are back in the publication that fired him earlier this year — and he says he's happy to be back.

Rick Friday was a cartoonist for 21 years for Farm News but was fired after one of his cartoons angered a seed dealer that advertises in the newspaper. Here he holds the issue that contains his final cartoon.

Rick Friday penned the "It's Friday" editorial cartoons in Fort Dodge's weekly Farm News until he was fired in May after illustrating a cartoon that bemoaned Iowa farmers' dwindling profits while CEOs at large agricultural corporations earn millions of dollars. A company affiliated with one of three large corporations mentioned in his cartoon reportedly complained, pulling its advertising from the publication.

Losing the job at Farm News brought fame to Friday from across the country, including articles in the Columbia Journalism Review and The New York Times. Friday said he received more than a thousand Facebook messages of support from around the world and has had job offers to draw for several different publications.

But Friday was happy when Farm News called him recently to apologize and asked him to return, he said. They had been under negotiations for a while, Friday said, and his work was back in the publication July 1.

The text accompanying Friday's most-recent cartoon on the Farm News website states:

"Farm News is delighted to announce the return of cartoonist Rick Friday. Beginning today, his witty insight will regularly return to its home on our editorial page and our website. Welcome back, Rick."

Editors for the publication could not immediately be reached for comment on Saturday.

Readers will notice "absolutely no change" to Friday's work in Farm News now that he has returned, he said on Saturday.

How Iowa's farmer cartoonist became a national free-speech martyr

But people are able to see his work in several other publications, as well, due to the job offers he's received over the past two months after being fired. Friday drew about 160 cartoons in the past 60 days — much more than his typical one cartoon per week for Farm News, he said.

Fans can keep up with his work at his Facebook page or his Twitter account, @friday_rick.