Vale / in Memorium

Jezza · 2023 PREMIERS! Joined: 06 Sep 2010 Location: Ponsford End

Very sad news has emerged that talented cartoonist Bill Leak has passed away at the age of 61 from a suspected heart attack.

Vale Bill Leak.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-10/bill-leak-dies-aged-61-of-suspected-heart-attack/8343136

David · I dare you to try Joined: 27 Jul 2003 Location: Andromeda

The sort of cartoonist who would make one invoke Voltaire's famous principle through gritted teeth. To be honest, I was kind of amazed that a mainstream newspaper would publish such hateful garbage (although to be fair, Leunig in The Age is just as unhinged). Sad for anyone to die at such a young age, but I hope his legacy will be a brief footnote in the history of Australian political cartooning.

stui magpie · Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2017 6:03 pm

hateful garbage or provocative satirist?

Eye of the beholder?

regan is true fullback · Joined: 27 Dec 2002 Location: Granville. nsw

Same category as Stan Zemaniak. Nobody noticed his passing except his wife...

Unlike Arthur Millers Eddie, I do not mourn for him "with a certain alarm". It's not worth it.

stui magpie · Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2017 7:52 pm

nine Walkley awards and 19 Stanley awards . Bit more than a hack.

Good article

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-10/bill-leak-a-satirist-who-played-hard-and-took-no-prisoners/8344732

ronrat · Joined: 22 May 2006 Location: Thailand

stui magpie · Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2017 8:37 pm

^

I've met him, had a caricature done by him. Won't pretend i know him but seemed like a good bloke.

Jezza · 2023 PREMIERS! Joined: 06 Sep 2010 Location: Ponsford End

Mugwump · Joined: 28 Jul 2007 Location: Between London and Melbourne

There is clearly a fearless core of uncomfortable truth in much of what he published, and that is the cartoonist's job. I didn't think he was especially witty or paradoxical, though, which is the other hallmark of a great cartoonist. The 2007 election "tsunami" cartoon is a good example of a great political cartoon, but there are not so many of these.

At least he was prepared to depict things that fashionable opinion would rather not have discussed. That is a credit to him.

HAL · Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2017 11:09 pm

A credit to him is a terrible thing to waste.

Jezza · 2023 PREMIERS! Joined: 06 Sep 2010 Location: Ponsford End

The club has paid their respects in the passing of Trevor Grant on the club's website.

David · I dare you to try Joined: 27 Jul 2003 Location: Andromeda

Mugwump · Joined: 28 Jul 2007 Location: Between London and Melbourne

^ I don't know how anyone could not like Leunig. Perhaps I have not seen enough of his recent work, but he is surely one of the most whimsically satisfying cartoonists ever. I don't especially agree with his world view, but he has a profoundly original mind and something to say about life that seems far above Bill Leak.

David · I dare you to try Joined: 27 Jul 2003 Location: Andromeda

I find Leunig often politically didactic and that his whimsy becomes a little less cute when he's asking us to take him seriously (see his anti-vaccination cartoons etc.). But I do have a book of some of his '70s work which I feel is more impressive and interesting than what he's doing today, and I do understand the regard he is held in.

Perhaps I find the political cartoon a strange art form in general � it's great at pointing out hypocrisy and irony, but otherwise I find it the art form that is most naturally disposed to propaganda. Leak's work in particular rarely seemed funny or insightful; it really did seem like it belonged in the right-wing counterpart to some revolutionary leftist tract � say, the Spectator. Perhaps it's a testament to where the Australian has moved politically that Leak was their go-to cartoonist.

Oh, and Jezza, I really must respond to your claim that he was a 'free speech hero'. Let's get one thing straight: those of us who are passionate about defending free speech are often called upon to defend crude, idiotic, deliberately offensive work. Being the subject of a censorship row is not inherently praiseworthy; any bigot or empty provocateur can do that. Let us reserve our praise for those who have actually done something to advance the cause of freedom of expression, as opposed to those whose chief purpose in life is to serve as the thin edge of the wedge.

think positive · Side By Side Joined: 30 Jun 2005 Location: somewhere

Wow, feeling the love in this thread, thought I'd have a look at his work, (people get awards for this?) took me about 15 min to find something funny or true, but it's very fitting to the thread!

http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/f2fd09621216abe834e5b313e7eeb208

And this

http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/1a85962ab64b5efb8355ada47cfb4038

These people liked him
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/bill-leak-dies/news-story/aae287d576bab6f6e3378b0638728a30

This lady not so much

http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/why-i-took-bill-leak-cartoon-to-the-human-rights-commission/8030268

Then I found this

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-20/bill-leak-cartoon-accurate-reflection-karl-ocallaghan-says/7951320

That's pretty sad, and if that cartoon helps get that story out there, well it's got to be a good thing.

Someone is always offended by every truth, satire is a humour not for every palate, sometimes truth needs to be said in an offensive fashion for it to hit home. And sometimes jokes go too far.

Well Bill, I'd never heard of you, seems you hit the mark in your aim, in more ways than one, 61 is too young for anyone to die, RIP, most people deserve that.

Except umpires.