LANSING, Mich. — The Rossman Group, one of the Midwest’s top public relations firms, announced today the release of The Rossman Group’s 2011 calendar featuring the artwork of Henry Payne, renowned editorial cartoonist for The Detroit News.
Payne’s awards and achievements as an artist include runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize and the Mencken Award. He is one of the few syndicated political cartoonists in the country with work distributed to more than 60 newspapers – including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, and the National Review.

“We were thrilled, once again, to engage the talents of Henry Payne for one of our firm’s favorite annual projects,” said Kelly Rossman-McKinney, CEO of The Rossman Group. “Henry’s creativity, wit and humor made it easy to channel our inner nerd to bring this project together.”

Rossman’s highly sought-after calendar annually spoofs Michigan’s political scene, with this year’s theme revolving around the 1984 film, Revenge of the Nerds. It includes many recognizable faces, both statewide and nationally, including Governor-elect Rick Snyder (the “Tough Nerd” himself), Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero, Michigan Attorney General-elect Bill Schuette, Secretary of State-elect Ruth Johnson and Michigan State University’s long-time head basketball coach, Tom Izzo. Local media-hound Tim Skubick is making his ninth Rossman calendar appearance.

The calendar touches on many of the key issues and challenges our state faced this past year, including the GOP sweep of statewide offices, the gubernatorial transition and even an embattled former Michigan Assistant Attorney General.

The Rossman Group will distribute more than 6,000 calendars across the United States and internationally.

Contact: Phil Lewis, The Rossman Group – 517-487-9320