Postscript: Leo Cullum

The cartoonist Leo Cullum died Saturday, at age sixty-eight. He had a long career with The New Yorker, publishing eight hundred and seventeen cartoons since 1977, and a long career with TWA, where he flew the big jets for thirty-four years. Leo assured us that, autopilot technology notwithstanding, he never worked on cartoons while airborne. He might have thought of ideas, but he inked his cartoons on layovers in such glamorous locations as Rome, Paris, Rio, and Newark. When he retired from flying, the cartoons kept coming from Malibu, California, as wonderful as ever.

Leo’s experience with the airlines clearly informed some of his New Yorker cartoons, but you didn’t have to be a pilot to get them.

This cat cartoon appeared about a month after 9/11, and in that dour and fearful time Leo showed us that laughter was not only permissible but necessary. He had already led the way with the very first cartoon we published after 9/11:

And, although Leo is gone, we all laugh again and again thanks to him and his wonderful cartoons. Here’s a selection of a few of my favorites.