Roz Chast Speaks at Library Benefit

Rosalind “Roz” Chast has become a beloved New Yorker cartoonist with her depictions of everyday life.

That includes the cartoon “When Moms Dance” which Chast penned after her own dancing embarrassed her daughter.

The illustration, which Chast showed a Princeton audience on Friday, shows a mother dancing in a living room, while the daughter sits on the couch, cringing, and says “Stop. You’re hurting me.”

Parents routinely mortify their teenage children, and there were probably plenty of parents in the audience at Nassau Presbyterian Church on Friday, judging by the laughter in the room.

Chast was the keynote speaker at the Friends of the Princeton Public Library’s annual benefit. About 400 library supporters, each of whom paid $200-$500 per ticket, came to the event.

Chast said always knew she wanted to be a cartoonist, but the opportunities weren’t always the right fit- like the time she received an offer to write for Playboy Magazine.

She didn’t know how to draw for the magazine famous for showing nude women and could only imagine drawing a character who said “I have, like, giant boobs and you’re chasing me,” Chast joked.

Her dream came true when the New Yorker hired her, and on Friday, Chast showed a slide show of her work.

At one point the screen went black but Chast handled the brief technical problem with aplomb and humor.

"If there was a light I could do shadow puppets,” she joked.

Retired New Yorker cartoonist Henry Martin, of Princeton, introduced Chast on Friday, describing her as having a childlike quality with adult humor.

The Friends of Princeton Public Library’s annual fundraiser typically makes between $13,000-$160,000, all of which goes directly to the library, said event organizer Vivian Allen.

Audience members left the church still laughing about Chast's comments. "It was excellent, very funny" attendee Margaret Schleissner said.