May
12
2011

Farewell To A New York Icon

An article by Hojo's Mojo

Sadly, Bill Gallo, the beloved cartoonist and columnist for the New York Daily News, passed away yesterday. Gallo, who worked for the News for seven decades, died Tuesday from complications of pneumonia at White Plains Hospital. He was 88.

“His death closed a chapter in the storied history of The News,” said Daily News chairman and publisher Mortimer Zuckerman. “The passing of our great cartoonist, colleague and friend Bill Gallo marks the end of an era.”

It sure does. I never was one for reading the comics growing up, but I would never miss a Bill Gallo cartoon. It was more than just a cartoon because Gallo always knew how to make each illustration jump off the page and deliver a statement. Of course my favorite cartoons were the ones that featured the Mets and especially Basement Bertha who actually appeared in Gallo’s last cartoon on April 19.

Gallo was born in Manhattan on Dec. 28, 1922, but grew up across the river in Queens. I will certainly miss his talents, and with his passing New York loses one of it’s iconic legends.

Gallo didn’t just limit his scope to baseball, football and boxing. He never missed the mark when the national headlines got in the way of sports.

Rest In Peace, Bill…

About the Author: Rob Johnson

8 Comments + Add Comment

BrooklynsOwn May 12, 2011 at 1:07 am

r.i.p.
I still have the paper from 9/12/01 and bill’s drawing was a hand spelling the word “cowards” . have the news from 10/17/00, it’s a drawing of a fan going through their attic looking for a sign…. found the sign and it read ” ya gotta believe “, mets won the pennant the day before. i’m looking at the news from 11/5/99 and bill’s drawing is the city skyline and it read ” no matter what … baseball fans, i want you all to stick your heads out the window and yell ‘ hey mets, you did speldid!’ “. Mets defeated the reds the night before to clinch the wildcard.
srt May 12, 2011 at 8:07 am

I first became familiar with his comics when he created Basement Bertha. As a young Met fan in 1969 I naturally thought at first he was a cartoonist strictly for the NY Mets. As I became older, I came to appreciate how he could convey a message in a one frame cartoon across a broad spectrum of topics. Truly very talented and it will seem strange to no longer see his work in the Daily News.

R.I.P. Mr. Gallo
Des May 12, 2011 at 8:50 am

My sympathies to the family and friends of Bill Gallo.

Besides Bill Gallo, there was another creative genius whose expressed himself in cartoons — Bill Mauldlen. He was a WWll grunt and drew a lot of cartoons about two other grunts called Willey & Joe. I became familiar with Bill Mauldlen’s work during the Vietnam war. Many others have come and gone, but the two Bill’s made the greatest impact on me.
Metstheory22 May 12, 2011 at 10:58 am

My sympathies to his family, friends and his thousands of fans.
He will be missed in NY by his fans. Will miss Basement Bertha and Yuchie. So glad to have his 1981 Mets yearbook as a reminder of his work.
If you were in his sport cartoon, you knew you made it. But he also did news cartoons that captured the item perfectly.
Thank you Bill Gallo.
Mr North Jersey May 12, 2011 at 11:11 am

R.I.P.
Metsie May 12, 2011 at 11:32 am

All I can say is the guy was a genius!
Russell Zanca May 12, 2011 at 1:14 pm

ALways looked forward to his comics when I picked up the News in summer during 1970s to see what our Metsies had done the night before.

WHat a great mind he had!

WIll never forget the Munson one…so sad.
The Friday Links May 13, 2011 at 9:23 am

[...] Farewell to a New York Icon. R.I.P. Bill Gallo | Mets Merized [...]

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