It’s been a real Monday for the folks Down Under.
First we got word that the fine actor Sam Neill had gone west. And following in short order was editorial cartoonist Pat Oliphant.
I never met Neill, born in Northern Ireland but raised in New Zealand, though I saw a ton of his films. The Aussie Oliphant I did meet, through the miracle of serendipity.
Regulars here know the tale. It was 1978, and Your Humble Narrator was a reporter at what then was called the Gazette Telegraph in Bibleburg when Oliphant came to town for an exhibition of his cartoons and paintings at the Fine Arts Center.
I got to interview him over the phone for the paper, and then met him in person at the exhibition, where he was gent enough to hold still for an extremely unprofessional and extended Grilling by Ignoramus about how he did what he did so well. He was generous enough to provide a few tips of the trade without adding a kick up the hole by way of punctuation.
Oliphant was, simply, the best in the business. Imagine being a freshly minted priest from some dusty whistlestop having a chat with the pope. All these years later it reminds me of the time I saw Ned Overend at the Cactus Cup, chatting amiably with a father and son before finally excusing himself, saying he had to finish warming up for his race.
As Ned rolled away dad says to kid: “You know what just happened? We talked to God! And God talked to us!”
Pat Oliphant died on Monday in Santa Fe, according to his son, Grant Oliphant. He was 90. Peace to him, his family, friends, and many, many fans. And thanks, God, for talking to that dumbass kid. You know the one I mean.
Mad Blog Media 
Great tribute!Beth Wrenn-Estes, InstructorSan Jose State UniversitySchool of InformationSent from iPhoneOn Jul 13, 2026,
Hey, Beth, long time no see! How’s trix?
Hear, hear!
Thanks for the tip, Hoss. Herself has an account at The New Mex, but it gives only limited visits so I don’t use it much, unless my old colleague Milan Simonich is lighting someone up and pissing them out and I wanna watch.
The cartoon you included brings to mind the Si Kahn song, The Senator.
I wonder if there’s an Oliphant ‘toon around that involves the southern scoundrel we were recently blaspheming about. There likely is but it’s probably gathering dust somewhere up on a noble and righteous shelf.
The New Mex story says he retired in 2015, suffering from vision issues, then made a comeback of sorts in ’17, mostly because he was interested in Trump:
He told the newspaper’s arts-and-entertainment magazine Pasatiempo in 2021: “I’m torn two ways with Trump: He’s so bad for the country, but he’s so good for cartoons. There’s a smugness and a self-satisfied, self-seeking quality that I found fairly disgusting, and it was wonderful to have someone like that.”
So … quien sabe? There just might be something in his archives.
Cartoonist Ann Telnaes shares her remembrance of Pat Oliphant at her Substack.
And The New York Times follows up with its own lengthy obit, courtesy of Robert D. McFadden, a writer of advance obits who had 63 years on the job before hanging it up in 2024. You’re not dead until Mother Times says so.
(Continued on next page) Shit, my subscription doesn’t give me access…
I remember Pat Oliphant from The Denver Post, many, many. Many. Many. Many moons ago. Broken hearted WHEN HE LEFT FOR THE WaSHINGTON POST.