Douglas Nigel Marlette (December 6, 1949 – July 10, 2007) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American editorial cartoonist who, at the time of his death, had also published two novels and was "finding his voice in writing long-length fiction.

"[1] His popular comic strip Kudzu, distributed by Tribune Media Services from 1981 to 2007, was adapted into a musical comedy.

[4] Marlette was the cartoonist for The Charlotte Observer (1972–1987), The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (1987–89) for which he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1988, New York Newsday (1989–02), The Tallahassee Democrat (2002–06) and The Tulsa World (2006–07).

Two days after Marlette's death, North Carolina Governor Michael F. Easley awarded him the honor of membership in the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the highest civilian honor bestowed by the governor of North Carolina.

In 2006, he was appointed a Gaylord Distinguished Visiting Lecturer at the College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Oklahoma.

[9] His nephew, Andy Marlette, worked for 15 years at the Pensacola News Journal in Florida as a columnist, illustrator and cartoonist.

[12][13] There were ten eulogists in all, and Conroy called Marlette his best friend[9] and said, "The first person to cry, when he heard about Doug's death, was God.