Legendary cartoonist Michael Leunig dies, aged 79

Nathan Jolly

December 20, 2024 8:13

Legendary cartoonist Michael Leunig dies, aged 79

Legendary Australian cartoonist Michael Leunig has died, age 79.

Leunig’s storied career started with the Melbourne Age in 1969, where he worked as a political cartoonist, and closed out in September, after he was dumped by The Age in what the artist dubbed “a throat-cutting exercise”.

Leunig’s passing was announced by his studio on Thursday evening.

“The pen has run dry, its ink no longer flowing — yet Mr Curly and his ducks will remain etched in our hearts, cherished and eternal,” an Instagram post reads.

“Michael Leunig passed away peacefully today, in the early hours of December 19, 2024.

“During his final days, he was surrounded by his children, loved ones, and sunflowers — accompanied as ever, by his dear old friends, Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven.”

Age editor Patrick Elligett called the cartoonist a “master of his craft and a near-permanent fixture on the fridge doors and dining tables of the nation”, in a tribute.

“His passing will be mourned by millions, and felt acutely by readers of The Age, who for 55 years had the privilege of enjoying his work and wit,” Elligett wrote.

“We are thinking of his friends and family at this difficult time. Farewell, Michael.”

Despite the unceremonious way in which Leunig left The Age, his retirement note struck a philosophical tone.

“I’d had a growing expectation that I would be disposed of by the big shots at Nine Entertainment and in the fateful phone conversation with the editor, when he said he was sorry, I told him in all honesty that everything was okay and that I actually felt exhilarated.

“Suddenly, there at last after all those years in newspapers, in one bound I was free; free to have a life without the compliance and worry of thankless mainstream media deadlines.

“Certainly I will now need to work hard and tighten my belt a little but otherwise I have been refreshed and granted a precious new chapter of life in which to plant trees, to paint pictures, to talk to the birds and kangaroos, to harvest my own vegetables and avocados, to appreciate all those who have helped and encouraged me, to be with friends and loved ones, to get on with the memoir and various projects; to be surprised and changed, to be grateful, to listen to music and birdsong, to grow, to wonder, to die… and of course, to be a funny old grandfather in the garden.”