Mr. William 'Whitey' Sanders

(Inducted in 1997)

William "Whitey" Sanders was poised for a career in professional football when he graduated from WKU in 1955. Armed with a national football passing record as quarterback, Sanders was to play with the Cleveland Browns, but was sidelined by a military tour in Korea and Japan. There he discovered a passion for drawing editorial cartoons. After two years at the Stars and Stripes, Sanders spent four years at the Greensboro Daily News and another four at the Kansas City Star before taking up residency at the Milwaukee Journal (1967-91).

He has received honors from the Kansas City and Wisconsin Civil Liberties Unions, the International Salon of Cartoons Award and the National Headliners Award. His cartoons have also caught the attention, and comments, of U.S. presidents from Lyndon Johnson to George Bush. Sanders, a native of Springfield, TN., lives in Ft. Myers, FL., with his wife, Joyce. They have four children and nine grandchildren.