Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Longtime New Yorker cartoonist Edward Koren dies

Edward Koren, a longtime cartoonist for The New Yorker magazine, known for his hairy, huminoid creatures, has died

Via AP news wire
Monday 17 April 2023 19:05 BST
Obit Edward Koren
Obit Edward Koren (Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Edward Koren, a longtime cartoonist for The New Yorker magazine, known for his hairy, huminoid creatures, has died. He was 87.

Koren died of lung cancer on Friday in Brookfield, Vermont, according to his wife, Curtis Koren.

He created more than 1,000 cartoons of the long-snouted creatures for The New Yorker, including covers, since the 1960s. He also wrote and illustrated books and served as Vermont’s second cartoonist laureate for three years. Koren said he never ran out of material, often writing down what he heard people say as fodder for his art.

“What captures my attention is all the human theater around me. I can never quite believe my luck in stumbling upon riveting mini-dramas taking place within earshot (and eyeshot), a comedy of manners that seems inexhaustible,” he wrote about his exhibition at Columbia University in 2010.

Koren, who was born in New York City, moved full time to Vermont more than 30 years ago to the tiny village of Brookfield, where he served as a volunteer firefighter.

His most recent book, “Koren In the Wild,” published in 2018, features cartoons spanning about 40 years, poking fun at country and city dwellers.

“I love how he skates right on the edge. He shows us how ridiculous and how precious we can all be without at all offending anybody,” Karen Mittelman, then executive director of the Vermont Arts Council, said at the time.

Koren told The Associated Press that he was fond of a quotation by Lily Tomlin that basically says no matter how cynical you get, it’s impossible to keep up.

“And I can’t keep up,” he said in 2018. “There’s always something where your jaw drops.”

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in