Why not Bil Keane?
David Marc Fischer, better known to you and me as loyal reader and anti-captioner David F, has died unexpectedly of leukemia at the age of....
Well, I don't know how old he was, or much else about him at all. It's one of the odd pleasures of blogging that we can form real connections to one another without ever learning the things that in a pre-Internet world would be so basic. I do know that David had a clever wit, which he displayed as the proprietor of Blog About Town, where he kept meticulous track of both the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest and the Anti-Caption Contest. It was based on that that I invited him a couple of times to be a guest blogger, in which capacity he produced, with the help of Deborah, several altered Bil Keane cartoons, of which the first is still my favorite.
Emdashes has a bit more about David and his interests. Anyone else who knew him is encouraged to leave their thoughts in the comments.
Update: Deborah points out that David did win the anti-caption contest once, and was rightly proud of his joke.
Comments
I didn't know David, but just spent several hours enjoying his eclectic blog and now wish I had.
Posted by: J.D. | August 7, 2009 2:30 PM
I'm so sorry.
Posted by: Liz | August 7, 2009 4:25 PM
Thanks, Daniel. I met David through your site, actually - he contacted me to do an illustration for his blog, and I kept in touch because I genuinely liked working with him. He loved art but couldn’t draw himself, so he sometimes asked me to execute his concepts (i.e. the Bil Keane cartoons).
I really admired his energy (and his persistence!) for pursuing what he enjoyed. He loved the New Yorker contest, both yours and the real one, and regularly attended and circulated the schedules for free cultural events in NYC (Shakespeare in the park, outside movie screenings, etc.) And as you probably noticed, he really loved your Bil Keane joke (see above). I think he would very much appreciate this tribute.
Posted by: Deborah | August 7, 2009 6:11 PM
Hi Daniel. David would have been 47 on Sept 23rd of this year.
He was/is a dear friend of mine, we met in high school. A true proselytizer for his passions, he pursued me through 11th grade advanced math class, trying to to persuade me to join the science fiction book club, once he saw I enjoyed sci fi as much as he. (Nod to Mr. Duffus, who gave points for ironing your math handhouts; ex-army, precision was his passion).
Am happy to share anecdotes/memories of life with David, he would certainly enjoy knowing he is bringing others together even after he is gone. He has a huge legacy of sharing, friendship, and loyalty.
Btw, he passed away actually on Aug 6, the service is this weekend.
Posted by: Joy | August 8, 2009 4:47 AM
Very sad news.
Posted by: TG Gibbon | August 8, 2009 5:54 AM
Very upsetting news. I didn't know David except for seeing his name (and comments and captions) here and clicking through to his blog a few times. But I did appreciate his meticulous caption tracking. My condolences to his family and friends who lost him at such a young age.
Posted by: Richard H | August 8, 2009 3:32 PM