click to enlarge - Courtesy of the Center for Cartoon Studies
- Ed Koren
Ed Koren, a
New Yorker cartoonist and longtime Brookfield resident, died on Friday morning at his home, according to his wife, Curtis Koren. He was 87; the cause of death was lung cancer.
Koren’s artwork is warm, approachable and instantly recognizable. He's known for his drawings of people (and other creatures) who often had lots of hair and for gags that display a nuanced understanding of human nature. Koren observed trends and poked good-natured fun at them.
For example, in one memorable cartoon, he joked about farm-to-table dining. A couple eats in a restaurant, their table surrounded by a group of farmers, growers and a cow. "We think it's terribly important that you meet the people responsible for the food you're eating tonight," the server says.
“Everybody knew Ed's style and he loved to draw,” said
Harry Bliss, a fellow
New Yorker cartoonist and close friend of Koren’s. “He
loved to draw. It was his breath. He breathed in the world through his drawing.”
Koren, who served as
Vermont’s second cartoonist laureate, was a prolific artist who drew more than 1,100 cartoons for the
New Yorker and published cartoon collections and illustrated books. He published his 20th book,
Koren. In the Wild, in 2018.
A native New Yorker, Koren bought his house in Brookfield village in 1978 and went back and forth between New York City and Vermont for a number years before he and Curtis settled permanently in Brookfield in 1988. He served on the town's volunteer fire department for 35 years.
“He joined the [Brookfield] fire department, and we were here,” Curtis told
Seven Days by phone. “We didn’t have any pretense about going to New York.”
The Korens were drawn to the “classic things” about Vermont, Curtis said, including its sense of community.
“We live in a little village,” she said. “We know all our neighbors. Everybody helps each other out. We love to go biking and cross-country skiing — all those things that make Vermont heavenly.”
Last July, the Brookfield community
came together to support Koren. Neighbors, friends and members of the fire squad gathered outside his house to celebrate the cartoonist.
"That tribute characterizes Vermont," Curtis said. "It was one of the most moving things. It's been kind of a big social year."
Koren, the only child of a dentist and a schoolteacher, started drawing cartoons in high school. He studied liberal arts (not studio art) at Columbia University, where he was editor of the
Jester, the college’s humor magazine.
“He advises young people who come to him who want to be artists to get a really good grounding in everything,” Curtis said.
He drew his first cartoon for the
New Yorker in 1962 and continued to publish in the magazine until the week of his death: A drawing of his signature furry folk appears in the April 17 issue.
“He’s not like one of his big furry creatures,” Bliss said. “Ed’s just so kind and warm, and you just want to cuddle the guy.”
Emphasizing how prolific Koren was, Bliss called him “the consummate cartoonist.”
“Ed really spent the time to articulate and delineate objects and things in his drawings,” he said. “He knew when to pull back and when to move into these things.”
Bliss recalled meeting Koren for the first time more than 25 years ago at a
New Yorker Christmas party at Balthazar, an event thrown by then-editor Tina Brown. It was the entry into a new scene for Bliss, whose first
New Yorker cover was the magazine’s 1998 New Year’s issue.
“My editor introduced me to Ed at this swanky party,” Bliss said. “Here’s this down-to-earth, nicest, sweetest guy, and all of my nerves just dissipated, man. Ed put me at ease, and that never changed. He made me a better person. "
Tuesday was a beautiful day, and the Korens decided to go for an excursion, to do something special. They drove to the "big city" and met a friend for lunch at Three Penny Taproom in Montpelier. Koren loved the Main Street barroom and drew T-shirts and glassware for it. (Three Penny is one of numerous businesses and nonprofits in Vermont for which Koren made drawings.)
His appetite had been minimal, Curtis said, but that changed at Three Penny on Tuesday, when Koren ate a New Yorker’s meal in a central Vermont barroom: a hot dog with a sauce full of onions and fabulous tater tots.
“He loved that hot dog,” Curtis said.
Koren is survived by his wife, Curtis; children Nathaniel, Sasha and Ben; and two grandchildren.