Goodbye, John

John Callahan, cartoonist, musician, humorist beyond compare, died this weekend.  He was 59 years old, an age which I may be perhaps indulged in claiming to be too young, far too young, to be gone.

It’s always too soon for the great ones to go, isn’t it?  Make no mistake: John was one of the great ones.  His work demonstrates to all of us the true value of humor. It is only when we laugh that we can transcend pain — gaining respite if only for a moment, garnering the strength we need to carry on another day.

He did all of this in a way that made many readers uncomfortable. Crass, rude, profane, vulgar –  John’s cartoons were all of these and more.  Callahan did not pull his punches. “This is a feminist bookstore!” one famous cartoon read. “There is no humor section here!” (more…)