NYDN cartoonist/writer Bill Gallo dies at 88

A giant link to a long-ago time--in and out of newspapers--is gone, per Mike Vaccaro's Twitter. This is a week or two after the Daily News ran a large takeout on him that alluded to some health concerns and two days after he won an award for which he wasn't present to accept.

Nobody ever again will be as associated with his newspaper as Gallo, who began working there before World War II and returned there afterward. His illustrations were iconic and his recollections of WWII every Veterans and Memorial Day were must-reads, as were his recollections of sporting figures long gone. Sundays won't be the same without the Bill Gallo Page in the News. RIP.

 

http://nydn.us/lyVF1Z

I didn't consume much of Bill's work, so I can't sing his praises. But I do not want to see the day where all of our links to the past have disappeared.

 

RIP, to one helluva cartoonist.

So many great strips, from the legendary Thurman Munson one with the kid saying he didn't feel like playing that day, to Steinbrenner being portrayed as a Nazi. He'll be missed, terribly.

 

Legendary, heroic, iconic, irreplaceable.

 

Incredible obit by Bondy.

And one of my first newspaper memories is of the Thurman Munson cartoon Baron referenced. I'll also never forget his cartoon the day after the Challenger blew up.

Can't say it enough: There's someone whose newspaper career will never be paralleled.

 

I found this interview with Gallo from NY1. If you can get past the messed-up quote marks, it's an excellent story:

http://www.ny1.com/content/features/one_on_1_archives/one_on__1_gago/57598/one-on-1--cartoonist-columnist-bill-gallo

The line that stands out, to me: "The sixth floor was where they printed the paper, and that g-d damned printer's ink went up into my nose and into my head and my body, and it just stays there," he says. "That's how I fell in love with it."

 

A gallery of Gallo's best:

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/galleries/bill_gallo_greatest_sports_moments/bill_gallo_greatest_sports_moments.html

 

RIP to a true journalism legend. Gallo broke in when sketches were big in papers and I can't recall anyone else who did it for so long and was so good.

 

The New York Daily News will never be the same without Bill Gallo.

 

Here's the obit:

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/2011/05/10/2011-05-10_bill_gallo_legendary_daily_news_cartoonist_and_columnist_dies_at_88_after_length.html?print=1&page=all

Such an incredible career.

Do other papers have sports cartoonists? Did it used to be a position that existed at all papers. (I suppose it did before photography, but after that?)

It really is pretty hard to think of the Daily News with out Gallo's cartoons or boxing columns.

 

bill gallo was the heart and soul of the daily news. i felt it from the moment i walked through the doors in november '78 until i left in august '96.

the guy was a legend who ALWAYS had time for inquisitive newbies. this line was immediately ingrained into my consciousness: in '79 i was dropping off some mail in bill's office as he was putting the final touches on his cartoon for the next day. wide-eyed, i asked him, 'wow, how long does it take you to do one of these?'

he smiled. 'oh, about 50 minutes,' he said, 'and 30 years.'

i stole that line often in ensuing years whenever newbies in the biz or classes i was talking to would wonder how long it took me to write a gamer on deadline.

not many guys left in the biz of bill's stature; he'd actually introduce anyone in the city room to visitors -- visitors like joe dimaggio and muhammed ali.


and not once did i ever hear anyone say a disparaging word about bill, never heard of an instance in which he 'big-timed' anyone.

r.i.p., bill. i'm sure there was a looong line in heaven waiting for you, eager to have you sketch 'em up one more time...

 

Grew up with those cartoons, great to hear he was a nice guy too. RIP.