"Al Feldstein, 88; editor of Mad magazine" by Matthew Brown | Associated Press May 03, 2014
BILLINGS, Mont. — Al Feldstein, whose 28 years at the helm of Mad magazine transformed the satirical publication into a pop culture institution, has died. He was 88....
In 1956, publisher William M. Gaines named Mr. Feldstein editor of the magazine, which gleefully parodied politicians and mocked traditional morality....
Building on a character used by Mad founding editor Harvey Kurtzman, Mr. Feldstein turned the freckle-faced Alfred E. Neuman into an underground hero, a dimwitted everyman with a gap-toothed smile and the recurring stock phrase, ‘‘What, Me Worry?’’
Neuman’s character was used to skewer any and all, from Santa Claus to Darth Vader, and more recently in editorial cartoonists’ parodies of President George W. Bush....
Under Gaines and Mr. Feldstein, Mad’s sales flourished, topping 2 million in the early 1970s. In a 1997 interview with the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, Mr. Feldstein credited Mad’s challenges to authority with helping to incite the cultural revolution of the 1960s.
‘‘Who’s covering up? That was one of our slogans,’’ he said. ‘‘We were orienting them to the adult world.’’
But not everyone was amused.
Mad once held a spoof contest inviting readers to submit their names to legendary FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover for an ‘‘Official Draft Dodger Card.’’ Mr. Feldstein said two bureau agents soon showed up at the magazine’s offices to demand an apology for ‘‘sullying’’ Hoover’s reputation by using his name in Mad.
The magazine also attracted critics in Congress who questioned the magazine’s decency, and a $25 million lawsuit from songwriters who objected to their work being parodied.
By Mr. Feldstein’s retirement in 1984, Mad’s heyday was past: Circulation had dropped to less than a third of its peak.
Mr. Feldstein moved West, first to Wyoming and later Montana. From a horse and llama ranch north of Yellowstone National Park, he ran a guest house and pursued his ‘‘first love,’’ painting wildlife, nature scenes, and fantasy art and entering local art contests.
Born in 1925, Mr. Feldstein grew up in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn. He found early success as an artist in a World’s Fair contest for children and later trained at Manhattan’s High School of Music and Art and Brooklyn College.
He got his first job in comics as a teenager, drawing background foliage for ‘‘Sheena, Queen of the Jungle,’’ which starred a female version of Tarzan.
‘‘Then I got a great promotion,’’ he told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle in a 1997 interview. ‘‘I was drawing leopard spots on her groin and breasts.’’
Mr. Feldstein served a stint in the military at the end of World War II, painting murals and drawing cartoons for Army newspapers.
After his discharge, he freelanced for various comics before landing at Entertainment Comics.
Designed for children but loved by many adults, Entertainment Comics’ titles included Tales From the Crypt, Weird Science, and Mr. Feldstein’s eventual vehicle to fame, Mad.
In 2000, a year after receiving an honorary doctorate in fine arts from Rocky Mountain College, Mr. Feldstein returned to the school to give its commencement address. He told students that while their carefree college days were ending, the ‘‘party of real life’’ was about to begin.
So are the student loan payments.
‘‘If you’re not having fun at the party you’re at,’’ he told the grads, ‘‘go find another party.’’
--more--"
UPDATE: Gang of idiots changes America
I do need to find a different party.
