This
note comes by way of my refrigerator, where I just posted this
admonitory observation of the incomparable Australian cartoonist and
social critic Michael Leunig.
Leunig is a treasure not to be missed. He is 5th generation Australian, in his early 60s now, something of a national treasure among Australian progressives. He has a very interesting website of his own, with writing about his work and his politics. A well-informed admirer, who maintains a Leunig appreciation website called Curly Flat, has described Leunig as follows:
Though
his profession may be listed as "cartoonist" on his tax return, Michael
Leunig is much more. Although his work is at times incredibly mirth
provoking he is not so much a humorist as an observer, philosopher,
commentator, historian of the absurd and catalyst for free thinking. Born
in East Melbourne (Victoria, Australia) in 1945, Leunig subsequently
evolved in Footscray, an eclectic inner industrial suburb, until his
success as a satirical political cartoonist afforded him the means to
escape the city in favour of the gentler ambience of nearby country
environs. From his early work in the 60's when he was published in such
diverse journals as Newsday, Woman's Day and the controversial London
Oz magazine, Leunig developed his distinctive pen style and eye for the
ridiculous which led to publication in 1974 of his first book The Penguin Leunig
(see elsewhere on the site for a complete anthology). These days he
lives somewhere near Melbourne where he is a regular contributor to the
local daily broadsheet The Age and fridge doors all over the country. While
most Australians are familiar with his work, few could tell you
anything about the man and yet through his cartoons, know everything
about him. By all accounts he is indeed shy, gentle and pensive, and
his work reveals him to be cynical, witty, sensitive, deeply spiritual,
emotionally precarious, at times depressed and always insightful. A
dysfunctional genius perhaps. Michael Leunig simultaneously defines and defies most Australian stereotypes, and I, for one, am thankful.
On a similar and complementary theme:
And a final moment of contemplative wisdom:
