Talk:Ralph Lazar

Adding citations (COI edit request)

I am Ralph Lazar, the subject of this article. Per WP:COI I'm disclosing that connection and asking that an independent editor review and, if appropriate, add the following citations rather than me editing the article directly.

The current article has roughly 20 uncited sentences, and per WP:BLP this should be a reliably sourced article throughout. I've located citations for several of these claims. Below is the complete proposed wikitext — the prose is unchanged; only <ref> tags and two {{citation needed}} tags have been added.

Two claims I could not find independent secondary sourcing for — the LinkNYC screen appearance and the Warner Bros. Discovery TV option — so I've left those tagged {{citation needed}} rather than support them with a weak or self-published source. If anyone can find trade-press coverage (e.g. Kidscreen, Deadline, Publishers Weekly) for the Warner Bros. Discovery item, that would be very welcome.

{{Short description|Artist}}
{{BLP sources|date=June 2026}}
{{Infobox writer
 | name         = Ralph Lazar
 | image        = Ralph Lazar.jpg
 | caption      = Ralph Lazar, California, 2016
 | birth_date   = {{birth year and age|1967}}
 | birth_place  = [[Johannesburg]], [[South Africa]]
 | education    = [[University of Cape Town]],<br/>[[London School of Economics]]
 | occupation   = [[Artist]], [[Author]], [[Illustrator]]
 | nationality  = [[South Africa]]n, [[United Kingdom|British]]
 | genre        = [[Art]], [[Illustration]]
 | notableworks = Harold's Planet, [[Happiness Is (cartoon)|Happiness Is]], Total Mayhem
 | awards       = {{awd |[[Parents' Choice Awards]] |2006, 2009,  [[The New York Times Best Seller list]] 2015}}
 | website      = {{URL|http://www.ralphlazar.com}} 
 | spouse       = [[Lisa Swerling]]
}}

'''Ralph Lazar ''' (born 1967) is a South African artist, illustrator and a [[New York Times Bestselling]] author.<ref name="nyt2015">{{cite news
| url = https://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2015-03-29/relationships/list.html
| title = New York Times Bestseller List March 2015
| accessdate = 2015-06-12 	 
| work = New York Times
| date = 2015-03-31
}}</ref>

==Life==
Ralph Lazar was born in [[Johannesburg]], [[South Africa]] in 1967, and has degrees in law & economics from the [[University of Cape Town]] and The [[London School of Economics]]. After university he worked at [[Goldman Sachs]] and [[Credit Suisse]].<ref name="bio">{{cite web |title=Bio |publisher=Ralph Lazar |url=https://ralphlazar.com/bio/ |access-date=2026-08-19}}</ref>

He is married to the artist [[Lisa Swerling]], has two children, and lives in London.<ref name="bio"/>

==Art==
Ralph Lazar's art contemporaneously documents global politics, with a focus on the US. Lazar creates pieces in real-time, as the news unfolds.<ref name="art-statement">{{cite web |title=Art |publisher=Ralph Lazar |url=https://ralphlazar.com/art/ |access-date=2026-08-19}}</ref> His work has been showcased at [[Art Basel]] Miami, The [[LA Art Show]], Art Palm Springs and Art Market San Francisco amongst others.<ref name="shows">{{cite web |title=Shows |publisher=Ralph Lazar |url=https://ralphlazar.com/shows/ |access-date=2026-08-19}}</ref> In January and February 2020, his artwork appeared on 1,700 [[LinkNYC]] digital screens across New York City.{{citation needed|date=August 2026}}

Recurring themes through his work are current affairs, race relations, [[Civil Rights]], US Presidential history, the [[US Supreme Court]] and the [[US Constitution]].<ref name="art-statement"/>

==Illustration and writing==
Partnering with his wife [[Lisa Swerling]], he is also known for his illustrative works [[Happiness Is (cartoon)|Happiness Is]], Harold's Planet, [[Vimrod]], [[The Brainwaves]], and Total Mayhem.

[[Happiness Is (cartoon)|Happiness Is]] was first published by [[Chronicle Books]] of [[San Francisco]]. Rights have been sold in 20 languages.<ref>{{cite web |title=Happiness Is . . . |publisher=Chronicle Books |url=https://www.chroniclebooks.com/products/happiness-is |access-date=2026-08-19}}</ref> Harold's Planet and [[Vimrod]] have been published by [[Penguin Books]], [[HarperCollins]] and [[Andrews McMeel]] and sell as greetings cards in the millions.<ref>{{cite news
| url = http://www.licensing.biz/company-profiles/read/last-lemon/038305
| title = Company Profiles
| accessdate = 2010-06-18
| publisher = Licensing Biz
| date = 2010-01-14
| archive-date = 2013-10-23
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131023011742/http://www.licensing.biz/company-profiles/read/last-lemon/038305
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> [[The Brainwaves]] are cartoon characters that populate [[Dorling Kindersley]]'s children's reference titles, published in 22 languages.{{citation needed|date=August 2026}}

Total Mayhem is a series of illustrated books for children, published by Scholastic in 2021.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ralph Lazar |publisher=Scholastic Australia |url=https://scholastic.com.au/booksellers/authors-and-illustrators/authors-and-illustrators-i-l/ralph-lazar/ |access-date=2026-08-19}}</ref> An additional series, More Total Mayhem, continued the series and is available on Amazon. In May 2025 rights were optioned to [[Warner Bros. Discovery]] for production as an animated TV series.{{citation needed|date=August 2026}}

Their artwork appeared weekly in [[The Financial Times]] and [[The Scotsman]] from 2006 to 2009.<ref name="bio"/> With [[Lisa Swerling]], he co-authored the book [[Me Without You (book)|Me Without You]] which was on the [[New York Times Bestseller List]] in March 2015.<ref name="nyt2015"/>

Awards and nominations include The [[Royal Society Prizes for Science Books]] (2008), [[Annecy International Animated Film Festival]] Grand Prix winner 1998 (International Project Competition), The Royal Society Prizes for Science Books (2007<ref>{{cite news
| url = https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6657843.stm
| title = Happiness wins science book prize
| access-date = 2008-03-28 	 
| publisher = BBC
| date = 2007-05-15
}}</ref>), [[The Washington Post]] Book of the Week (April 2007<ref>{{cite news
| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/14/AR2007041401250.html
| title = How Nearly Everything Was Invented
| accessdate = 2008-03-28 	 
| newspaper = The Washington Post
| date = 2007-04-15
}}</ref>) and The US [[Parents' Choice Award]] 2006<ref>{{cite news
| url = http://www.parents-choice.org/product.cfm?product_id=21148&StepNum=1
| title = How Nearly Everything Was Invented
| accessdate = 2008-03-28
| publisher = Parents' Choice Foundation
| date = 2007-04-04
| archive-date = 2010-06-16
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100616130830/http://parents-choice.org/product.cfm?product_id=21148&StepNum=1
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> and 2009.<ref>{{cite news
| url = http://www.parents-choice.org/product.cfm?product_id=26400&StepNum=1&award=aw
| title = The Most Explosive Science Book in the Universe... by the Brainwaves
| accessdate = 2009-06-26
| publisher = Parents' Choice Foundation
| date = 2009-06-06
| archive-date = 2011-09-28
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110928014806/http://www.parents-choice.org/product.cfm?product_id=26400&StepNum=1&award=aw
| url-status = dead
}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.ralphlazar.com ralphlazar.com]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lazar, Ralph}}
[[Category:Alumni of the London School of Economics]]
[[Category:People from Muswell Hill]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1967 births]]
[[Category:University of Cape Town alumni]]
[[Category:Artists from Marin County, California]]
[[Category:Goldman Sachs people]]

Thank you for reviewing. Moremi99 (talk) 22:01, 19 August 2026 (UTC)

Moremi99 (talk) 22:15, 19 August 2026 (UTC)

Correction: On rechecking, ralphlazar.com/bio does not actually support the Goldman Sachs/Credit Suisse, "two children", or Financial Times/Scotsman claims cited to it above — apologies for the error, that citation was based on a search summary I didn't verify directly. Those three claims should be treated as {{citation needed}} rather than sourced to that page until an independent source turns up. The birthplace, university education, and "lives in London" claims are correctly supported by it. Moremi99 (talk) 22:23, 19 August 2026 (UTC)