at Montgomery Ward. He observed other illustrations, then drew his own illustrations and sent his work to art directors. Mare Early, an art director for the Chicago Tribune, called him in to show his work. He then got jobs in Chicago, working for the Chicago Tribune (which led to him quitting his copywriting job) as well as some other publications and doing a caricature of Tom Wolfe for Advertising Age. Bachtell's illustrations appeared in the Chicago Reader from 1990 through 1992. The New Yorker Around that time, The New Yorker editor Robert Gottlieb was actively seeking to incorporate more illustrations into the magazine, and was looking for illustrators to hire. In 1989, after seeing Bachtell's caricature of Tom Wolfe in another magazine, '"New Yorker art director Chris Curry called Bachtell and hired him to do occasional caricatures for the "Goings on About Town" section. The first illustration of Bachtell's published in The New Yorker was of David Byrne in the 30 October 1989 issue. (Coincidentally, Charles Addams drew the cover for that issue.) Bachtell continued to draw for "Goings on About Town" and other sections through early 1995; his subjects during that time included Kris Kristofferson, Madonna, and a young Allison Janney (at the time performing in a short-lived off-Broadway play Five Women Wearing the Same Dress). Bachtell began drawing for the "Talk of the Town" section of The New Yorker with the 20 March 1995 issue. He drew four illustrations for that issue, including of Conan O'Brien and the cast of Absolutely Fabulous. At first Bachtell was one of a rotating cast of "Talk of the Town" illustrators, including Eric Palma, Michael Witte, Robert Risko, and others, but by June 1997 he was the sole illustrator for the section. Bachtell drew for "Talk of the Town" for 23 years; his final illustrations for the section ran in the 9/16 July 2018 issue. His work has appeared in various sections over the years; overall, Bachtell has drawn over 2800 illustrations for The New Yorker. Other Media In 2005, Bachtell was a finalist for the 18th Annual Lambda Literary Awards as illustrator along with editor Robert Trachtenberg for the book "When I Knew" under the Belles Lettres category. In 2016, Bachtell drew the book cover for Mark Singer's book Trump and Me, published by Penguin Random House. In 2018, Bachtell drew Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg for the CD cover