Leo Cullum

Leo Cullum
Born	Leo Aloysius Cullum (1942-01-11)January 11, 1942 Newark, New Jersey,USA
Died	October 23, 2010(2010-10-23)(aged 68) Los Angeles, California,USA
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Cartoonist

Leo Aloysius Cullum(January 11, 1942 – October 23, 2010) was an Americancartoonist,one of the more frequent contributors toThe New Yorkerwith more than 800gag cartoonspublished. He started his drawing career after having served as a pilot in theUnited States Marine Corpsduring theVietnam Warand flying planes commercially forTrans World AirlinesandAmerican Airlines.

Born inNewark, New Jersey,Cullum was raised inNorth Bergen, New Jerseyand earned his undergraduate degree in 1963 from theCollege of the Holy Cross,where he majored in English. He joined the United States Marine Corps after graduating from college, earning a commission as a second Lieutenant. Upon completion of his flight training inPensacola, Florida,Cullum deployed toVietnam,where he flew more than 200 missions, mostly ground attacks in support of the infantry in addition to attacks on theViet Congsupply lines on theHo Chi Minh trailinLaos.Though the missions over Laos were not officially acknowledged, Cullum was baffled by the need for secrecy, saying "theNorth Vietnamesecertainly knew it wasn't the Swiss bombing them ".

Early cartoons

After completing his military service, Cullum became a pilot forTWA,which was later taken over byAmerican Airlines,where he worked until his retirement in 2001. In between flights, he started doodling, continuing his early interest in drawing cartoons. He said, "I bought some instructional books which explained the format, and I began studying the work of various cartoonists". He had always hoped to be published inThe New Yorker,which turned down a series of his early entries. The magazine liked some of Cullum's concepts for cartoons, which were turned over toCharles Addamsfor illustration, with the first of Cullum's ideas appearing in print in 1975 showing a couple paddling in a canoe with their reflection in the water showing a vision of the man attacking the woman. Addams convinced Cullum to pursue his craft, and his first sale was toAir Line Pilot Magazine.He had later cartoons printed inArgosy,Saturday ReviewandSports Afield.

The New Yorker

Over his career withThe New Yorkerthe magazine published 819 of his cartoons, many of which involved animals. His first successful entry was published on January 3, 1977, and featured a man wearing a robe at an office desk in a room filled with chickens.A cartoon with the caption "This island isn't big enough for two cliches" showed a school of fish attempting to crawl onto the shore of a desert island populated by a man and a lone palm tree.Cartoon editorBob Mankoffcalled him "one of the most popular" cartoonists atThe New Yorkerduring the 1980s and 1990s and "one of the most consistently funny cartoonists we ever had". Cullum's was the first cartoon included in the first illustrated issue printed after theSeptember 11 attacks,with the caption "I thought I'd never laugh again. Then I saw your jacket."One of his most requested cartoons features a man lecturing a cat with the caption "Never, ever, think outside thebox".His final published cartoon appeared in the issue dated October 25, 2010.

Books

His published books include collections about doctors and birds, with the respective punny titles ofSuture SelfandTequila Mockingbird.Other books featured his cartoons about cats, dogs and business people.

A resident ofMalibu, California,Cullum died ofcancerat the age of 68 on October 23, 2010, atCedars-Sinai Medical CenterinLos Angeles.He was survived by his wife, Kathy, a former flight attendant whom he had met on a flight toBoston,as well as by his daughters Kaitlin Cullum andKimberly Cullum,both of whom had beenchild actors.

External links

• Postscript: Leo Cullum,memories ofRoz Chast
• The Cartoon Bank,The New Yorker
• Vietnam Veterans of America'sArts of War on the Webappreciation