John Callahan, the hard-hitting Portland-based cartoonist whose edgy work offended some and entertained many others, has left us at the age of 59. That he could get away with his extreme incorrectness is in itself a tribute to how much he made his audience think.
Comments (13)
This is very sad. John Callahan was a creative genius. I had the occasion to get to know him several years ago. One of the most interesting people I have ever met.
He managed his quadriplegia like few others. He hated being treated like a victim. His email address was AntiQuad@...
He will be remembered.
The first cartoon I ever saw of his I saw in Chicago, in a greeting card shop. Pictured was a stern looking woman behind a counter, caption: "This is a feminist bookstore. There is no humor section."
I used to see John riding around 23rd Avenue all the time in the mid-90s when I was living in the neighborhood and working at the (now-defunct) Music Millennium.
I loved his work and clipped several and keep them in my desk drawer. My favorite is the one with a guy cooking in a food cart and the sign over it said "Terets Syndrome Cafe". The cook is saying to a customer "You're order will be up when I shout motherf****er".
Callahan helped define Portland's true modern character as a city, as a place. How fortunate Portland was to have him. What a remarkable guy. Callahan's expansions of and contributions to the world's comedy legacy will be legendary. [insert irreverent Callahan captioned line drawing response here].
How sad! I haven't yet read the story, but thank you for calling attention to it. John's work is one of the things that bridges the Portland that I grew up in, and left after high school, with the Portland I moved to in '05.
May I recommend his album, Purple Winos in the Rain?
Charamba, Douro 2008
Horse Heaven Hills, Cabernet 2010
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills Pinot Grigio 2011
Avignonesi, Montepulciano 2004
Lorelle, Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2011
Villa Antinori, Toscana 2007
Mercedes Eguren, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Lorelle, Columbia Valley Cabernet 2011
Purple Moon, Merlot 2011
Purple Moon, Chardonnnay 2011
Abacela, Vintner's Blend No. 12
Opula Red Blend 2010
Liberte, Pinot Noir 2010
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Indian Wells Red Blend 2010
Woodbridge, Chardonnay 2011
King Estate, Pinot Noir 2011
Famille Perrin, Cotes du Rhone Villages 2010
Columbia Crest, Les Chevaux Red 2010
14 Hands, Hot to Trot White Blend
Familia Bianchi, Malbec 2009
Terrapin Cellars, Pinot Gris 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2009
Campo Viejo, Rioja, Termpranillo 2010
Ravenswood, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2010
Waterbrook, Reserve Merlot 2009
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills, Pinot Grigio 2011
Tarantas, Rose
Chateau Lajarre, Bordeaux 2009
La Vielle Ferme, Rose 2011
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio 2011
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir 2009
Lello, Douro Tinto 2009
Quinson Fils, Cotes de Provence Rose 2011
Anindor, Pinot Gris 2010
Buenas Ondas, Syrah Rose 2010
Les Fiefs d'Anglars, Malbec 2009
14 Hands, Pinot Gris 2011
Conundrum 2012
Condes de Albarei, Albariño 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2007
Penelope Sanchez, Garnacha Syrah 2010
Canoe Ridge, Merlot 2007
Atalaya do Mar, Godello 2010
Vega Montan, Mencia
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2009
Portuga, Rose 2011
Revelation, Chardonnay, Pays d'Oc 2010
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 2005
Monte Alto, Tinto Reserva 2005
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Cabernet, Indian Wells 2009
Espiral, Vinho Rose
Vin-Koru, Pinot Gris 2011
14 Hands, Hot to Trot Red 2009
Rodney Strong, Cabernet, Sonoma 2009
Abacela, Vintner's Blend #11
Portuga, White 2010
La Bourgeoisie, Red 2009
Januik, Red 2009
Three Rivers, River's Red 2008
Kirkland, Alexander Valley Merlot 2008
Muga, Rioja Rose 2010
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2009
Mauro Molino, Barbera d'Alba 2009
Garda Chiaretto Rose
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Vineyard 10 White
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Pinot Gris, Columbia Valley 2009
L'Hortus, Rose de Saignee 2010
Maculan, Pino & Toi 2008
McKinley Springs, Bombing Range Red 2008
Trader Joe's Pinot Gris 2009
Montes Alpha, Cabernet 2007
Gran Sasso, Sangiovese, Terre di Chieti 2009
Garda, Classico Chiaretto Rose
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1999
Picos del Montgo, Tempranillo 2008
Chateau de Montmirail, Vacqueyras 2008
La Granja 360, Syrah 2009
Montgras, Carmenere Reserva 2009
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet 2008
Kirkland, Pinot Grigio 2010
Trader Joe's Coastal Syrah 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Merlot 2008
Trader Joe's Coastal Chardonnay 2009
Vieux Papes Red
Domaine de l'Aujardiere, Chardonnay 2009
Santa Rita, Cabernet, Medalla Real 2007
Penfold's, Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2008
Guild, Red, Lot #02 2008
Dievole, Dievolino Sangiovese 2008
Laforet, Burgogne Chardonnay 2009
Columbia Winery, Merlot 2007
Bonterra, Cabernet 2008
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2009
Maquis Lien 2006
Scott Paul, Pinot Noir, Le Paulee 2007
The Occasional Book
Neil Young - Waging Heavy Peace
Mark Bego - Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul (2012 ed.)
Jenny Lawson - Let's Pretend This Never Happened
J.D. Salinger - Franny and Zooey
Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol
Timothy Egan - The Big Burn
Deborah Eisenberg - Transactions in a Foreign Currency
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - Slaughterhouse Five
Kathryn Lance - Pandora's Genes
Cheryl Strayed - Wild
Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The Brothers Karamazov
Jack London - The House of Pride, and Other Tales of Hawaii
Jack Walker - The Extraordinary Rendition of Vincent Dellamaria
Colum McCann - Let the Great World Spin
Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus - The Nanny Diaries
Brian Selznick - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Sharon Creech - Walk Two Moons
Keith Richards - Life
F. Sionil Jose - Dusk
Natalie Babbitt - Tuck Everlasting
Justin Halpern - S#*t My Dad Says
Mark Herrmann - The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law
Barry Glassner - The Gospel of Food
Phil Stanford - The Peyton-Allan Files
Jesse Katz - The Opposite Field
Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
David Sedaris - Holidays on Ice
Donald Miller - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Mitch Albom - Have a Little Faith
C.S. Lewis - The Magician's Nephew
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ivan Doig - Bucking the Sun
Penda Diakité - I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Grace Lin - The Year of the Rat
Oscar Hijuelos - Mr. Ives' Christmas
Madeline L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time
Steven Hart - The Last Three Miles
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day
Karen Armstrong - The Spiral Staircase
Charles Larson - The Portland Murders
Adrian Wojnarowski - The Miracle of St. Anthony
William H. Colby - Long Goodbye
Steven D. Stark - Meet the Beatles
Phil Stanford - Portland Confidential
Rick Moody - Garden State
Jonathan Schwartz - All in Good Time
David Sedaris - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Anthony Holden - Big Deal
Robert J. Spitzer - The Spirit of Leadership
James McManus - Positively Fifth Street
Jeff Noon - Vurt
Road Work
Miles run year to date: 21
At this date last year: 52
Total run in 2012: 129
In 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269
Comments (13)
This is very sad. John Callahan was a creative genius. I had the occasion to get to know him several years ago. One of the most interesting people I have ever met.
He managed his quadriplegia like few others. He hated being treated like a victim. His email address was AntiQuad@...
He will be remembered.
The first cartoon I ever saw of his I saw in Chicago, in a greeting card shop. Pictured was a stern looking woman behind a counter, caption: "This is a feminist bookstore. There is no humor section."
He will be remembered.
Posted by Rob Kremer | July 25, 2010 12:05 PM
That's too bad. He was anti-PC and very funny. I used to see him up on 23rd a lot. Too young, he will be missed.
Posted by Mike Landfair | July 25, 2010 2:39 PM
I used to see John riding around 23rd Avenue all the time in the mid-90s when I was living in the neighborhood and working at the (now-defunct) Music Millennium.
Here is the cover of one of his books, which features my all-time favorite Calahan cartoon.
Posted by none | July 25, 2010 2:52 PM
Note the Gary Larson quote on the cover of the book:
"He makes my own work look normal."
High praise, indeed.
Posted by none | July 25, 2010 2:55 PM
He searched for reason
and he searched for rhyme,
and he searched the heavens
for one last time.
Then he closed his eyes,
and tipped his chair,
and he held his breath
and he fell somewhere.
And he fell so far
and he fell so high
that all he could say
was "Goodbye, goodbye!"
So far and so high
so where and so why…
And all he could say
was "Goodbye, goodbye!"
From Callahan's book, The King of Things and the Cranberry Clown
click here to see entire book
Posted by NW Portlander | July 25, 2010 3:28 PM
RIP
Posted by Shirley U. Jest | July 25, 2010 3:48 PM
I loved his work and clipped several and keep them in my desk drawer. My favorite is the one with a guy cooking in a food cart and the sign over it said "Terets Syndrome Cafe". The cook is saying to a customer "You're order will be up when I shout motherf****er".
Posted by Robert Collins | July 25, 2010 4:03 PM
Callahan helped define Portland's true modern character as a city, as a place. How fortunate Portland was to have him. What a remarkable guy. Callahan's expansions of and contributions to the world's comedy legacy will be legendary. [insert irreverent Callahan captioned line drawing response here].
Posted by Mojo | July 25, 2010 7:22 PM
How sad! I haven't yet read the story, but thank you for calling attention to it. John's work is one of the things that bridges the Portland that I grew up in, and left after high school, with the Portland I moved to in '05.
May I recommend his album, Purple Winos in the Rain?
Posted by Jessica Bucciarelli | July 25, 2010 7:42 PM
Whatever happened to that movie he kept talking about that was going to be made about his life? As I recall, Robin Williams was cast as the lead...
Posted by PJB | July 25, 2010 11:28 PM
He will be missed. He has been a Portland fixture for a long long time. Another one lost.
Posted by nancy | July 26, 2010 9:17 AM
Whatever happened to that movie he kept talking about that was going to be made about his life? As I recall, Robin Williams was cast as the lead...
Oregonian said Robin Williams owns the rights to Callahan's story but nothing has been done with the project to date.
Posted by none | July 27, 2010 3:31 PM
Couldn't anyone have helped him to avoid death by complications from bed sores?
Callahan will not be replaced, he will be missed. This is just too sad...
Posted by Dean | August 1, 2010 12:15 PM