In 2003, Marlette enrolled at the University of Florida. He was an English major until he wrote a paper for which he was kicked out of the department.

He found refuge as a Classical Studies major, and to this day, he still knows enough Latin to translate the more vulgar poems of Catullus and the inscription on a pack of Pall Malls.

Though heavily occupied by Gator football, beer, Virgil and girls wearing orange and blue, Marlette served three years as art director and editorial cartoonist at the Independent Florida Alligator, which is the largest independent college newspaper in the country.

During his time at the Alligator, Marlette received several awards for his cartoons. He was a national finalist in the Society of Professional Journalists’ 2004 Mark of Excellence Awards as well as one of three national finalists in the Scripps/Howard Foundation’s 2004 Charles M. Schulz Award for Best College Cartoonist.

In 2004, while enrolled at UF, Marlette illustrated two published children’s books co-authored by Orlando Sentinel sports columnist Mike Bianchi and Florida sports writer Marisol Novak.

Upon graduation in 2005, Marlette independently syndicated daily editorial cartoons until the spring of 2007, when he journeyed north to Pensacola to begin his first daily newspaper job at the Pensacola News Journal as a cartoonist and graphic artist. He has been drawing daily cartoons there ever since.

In July of 2007, the tragic death of his Uncle Doug devastated the entire Marlette family. It also made more poignant the elder Marlette’s fierce and faithful devotion to the art form of editorial cartooning as a crucial element of American free speech. With this always in mind, Andy works daily to learn and uphold the disciplines and values passed on to him by his late uncle.