Gahan Wilson - Dementia, Death and -- in the latest issue of The New Yorker

Some have known that the legendary cartoonist Gahan Wilson was suffering from dementia. On his website, a few of his original cartoons were being sold to raise money for his care.

There was also an active GoFundMe page for him:

There was a short video clip explaining that Wilson and his wife were in assisted living, that his wife had died leaving him alone and unable to care for himself.

It seemed clear that he was no longer drawing anything, and might not have even been able to raise money by signing copies of his various books.

I was surprised to see a new Gahan Wilson cartoon turn up in The New Yorker:

I remember meeting Wilson when he performed a demonstration of his cartooning. He was, of course, nothing like his image. He was a mild-mannered sandy-haired gent with a calm demeanor. He had a big easel, a huge pad of paper, and rather than miraculously drawing a cartoon on one sheet, he used seven or eight to show the structure of how he created his work. The subject wasn't horror, it was Sherlock Holmes. He finished up with a pun about Holmes, gave a little nod to the applause, and left. There was an instant rush to get to the easel and to the sheets of paper with unfinished cartoons that had dropped to the floor.

Maybe one of those will be on eBay this week.

How many Gahan Wilson cartoons are still in the offices of The New Yorker or Playboy, not yet seen? I guess we'll wait and see.