Edward Bruce Tinsley IV (born 1958) is an American cartoonist, best known for his politically conservative comic strip Mallard Fillmore.
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Tinsley was born in Louisville, Kentucky. He is a graduate of Bellarmine University with a degree in political science. While in High School, he won a cartoon contest sponsored by Louisville's Voice Newspaper chain, and began working as an editorial cartoonist at age 16. He attended the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri, studying journalism, and then worked for The Daily Progress as an editorial cartoonist. He quickly established himself in Virginia, winning three Virginia Press Association Awards for Best Editorial Cartoon.
Jay Kennedy, a comics editor working for King Features, saw Mallard Fillmore in the Washington Times and contacted Tinsley, as Kennedy had been looking for the conservative response to Doonesbury. (Kennedy would later rise to editor-in-chief at King Features before his death in 2007.)[1] While developing Mallard Fillmore for potential syndication under Kennedy's direction, Tinsley won a Reader's Digest Fellowship to Indiana University School of Journalism, and attended graduate school at Indiana University. Mallard Fillmore launched in 1994 and is still published today. Two collections were released early in the series' run, Mallard Fillmore and Mallard Fillmore On the Stump, but none have been produced since 1996.
In 1996, the Denver Post cancelled Mallard Fillmore, claiming it was "mean-spirited." After being deluged with letters from readers, the paper reinstated the strip with a front page story covering the comic's reinstatement, saying simply, "we were wrong." Mallard Fillmore still appears in the Denver Post. When the editorial page editor who had originally cancelled the comic strip died, Tinsley was asked to contribute artwork as part of her memorial service.
Tinsley was named the 1998 Conservative Journalist of the Year at the 1998 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C..
On December 4, 2006, Tinsley was arrested for DUI with a blood alcohol level of 0.14, just below twice the legal limit in Indiana, according to the Bartholomew County Sheriff's Department. He posted $755 bond, and was set to appear in trial on January 3, 2007.[2]. He was quoted at the time in local Columbus paper as stating that his arrest was by an officer about whom Tinsley had complained, because of the officer's behavior several years ago. Tinsley later lampooned Judge Roderick McGillivray in his nationally syndicated comic strip on November 4, 2008, encouraging voters to cross party lines and vote for the best candidate in any election (McGillivray is Republican). Despite Columbus going in favor of McCain in the presidential election, McGillivray lost the election to his Democratic opponent, Kathleen (Kitty) Coriden.
In 2008, the Muskegon Chronicle replaced Mallard Fillmore with the comparably conservative strip Prickly City but soon reinstated it, prompting editor Paul Keep to write: "It's not crow I'm tasting today, It's DUCK."[2]