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About the artist 
Born in Neosho, Mo., in 1969, Matt Decker began drawing at an early age. His first serious attempt at cartooning came in the form of a bi-monthly comic strip entitled "Harold," graced the pages of his high-school newspaper, while his first efforts at political cartooning were featured in his hometown newspaper, The Lebanon Daily Record, and the nearby Camdenton Lake Sun Leader.
While attending college at Southwest Missouri State University from 1988-1992, Matt drew political cartoons and a weekly comic strip for The Southwest Standard, eventually earning a large readership and a position on the paper's editorial board.
After graduating with a Bachelor's of Fine Art degree with an emphasis in illustration, Matt returned to his hometown, joining The Lebanon Daily Record as a reporter to pursue a career in community journalism. From 1994 to 2000, he also wrote an award-winning weekly sports column, entitled "The Sunday Soapbox."
In July, 2000, Matt helped redesign The Daily Record's editorial page and began drawing political cartoons at the urging of then-publishers Gary and Helen Sosniecki. Between that time and 2006, he won a handful of awards for his drawings. In 2003, his work took first place in the small daily division of the National Newspaper Association's Better Newspaper Contest. In 2002, Matt's cartoons took first place honors from the Missouri Press Association and second place in the NNA division. In 2001, he won third place honors in both contests. In 2004, his work received an honorable mention in the MPA contest(Click here to view award-winning cartoons.)
In February, 2006, Matt left The Daily Record to become the sports/leisure editor for The GUIDON, the newspaper serving nearby Fort Leonard Wood.
Matt and his wife, Tammy, live in Lebanon with their son, Alex.
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