John Callahan – A Talented and Twisted Voice Is Gone

For awhile, it seemed like this story just plain passed under the radar of the disability community – most of whom were acutely attuned to coverage of the 20th anniversary of the American Disabilities Act, hoping for media coverage and being somewhat underwhelmed by media attention.  The anniversary – including the ceremony at the White House – went totally unnoticed by the prime-time talking heads at MSNBC, for example.  Seems like they could have waited a day to do a segment on “famous apologies” on “Countdown” to make room for coverage of the anniversary, but the proudly liberal MSNBC primetime crowd seem uniformly disdainful and/or clueless when it comes to the landmark civil rights legislation for people with disabilities.

But, nevertheless, as a community, most of us had our attention on one big thing.

Meanwhile another big thing went by for a few days without much mention (including me, of course).

On July 24th, John Callahan – quadriplegic, cartoonist, recovering alcoholic, author, and songwriter – died at the age of 59.

I first heard the news from Laura Hershey, who posted the news on Facebook.

I’m pretty sure the first disability blogger to write about his death was Ruth at Wheelie Catholic, who gave the following account:

Sadly John Callahan has passed away. He was 59 years old and died of complications from his spinal cord injury.

Known mostly for his cartoons, (which appeared for 27 years in Williamette Week), Callahan authored the biography Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot and a semi-autobiographical animation Quads. Callahan was the only quadriplegic who created a TV cartoon series , called Pelswick.

It took a little while, but other disability bloggers have also written about Callahan, his life – and now, our loss.

Stephen Kuusisto wrote “R.I.P. John Callahan” on his Planet of the Blind blog.

Here is an excerpt:

John Callahan resisted “the overcoming story”–that is, a narrative that glibly suggests we’re all made well simply by telling our stories of suffering. Callahan didn’t trust the Oprah or Disney models of narrative closure wherein suffering makes for emotional freedom. In all too many cases suffering is suffering and laughter won’t save you but it will confirm that you still have a brain in your head. Thank you Callahan. We’ll miss you brother. 

And I’ll borrow his words to describe the cartoon posted below the quoted text:

It shows three cops on horseback in a desert. Before them stands an abandoned wheelchair. There’s no sight of its owner. The lead cop is saying: “Don’t worry, he won’t get far on foot.”

Gary Presley wrote about “John Callahan and the Rest of Us Crips“:

Too often people with disabilities — at least the sort that make us dependent on other people for the simple tasks that keep us alive — must navigate their way through the world with a cynical, self-serving blend of guile, hypocrisy, and calculated good manners. We must be better than our true selves simply out of self-preservation.

I may be wrong, but I don’t think Callahan did that, allowed that compromise, that accommodation into his world. His cartoons — let’s identify his work instead as his commentary — was too ferocious.

I hope that anyone familiar with this blog realize that if I take the time to link and/or quote someone’s blog I feel it’s worth people’s time to go check the blogs themselves.  All the blogs include links to tributes and articles by other sources – some of whom were personally close to the man.

As for me, I have my own guilty favorites in terms of his cartoons.  As readers might have noticed, this blog sometimes features humor some people might find offensive or distasteful.  Years ago, I read John Callahan’s autobiography, Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot.

One quote stuck with me – and I dug it out of my battered copy of the book:

Comedy is the main weapon we have against “The Horror.” With it we can strike a blow against death itself. Or, at least, poke a hole in the pretentious notion that there is something dignified about it.

Which is as good an explanation about why you’ll find humor featured here from time to time.  It’s the main weapon against “The Horror.”

Below is a cartoon titled “Cellular Phone” (the cartoon was drawn when cell phones were a new thing).  The drawing shows a man falling toward the ground off the side of a tall building.  He is talking into a cell phone and the balloon show that he’s saying “Hello suicide hotline? I’ve changed my mind.”

The cartoon below has no words, it just shows a sad faced snowman standing in a corner of a room.  Near him, on the floor, is a scribbled note and a pencil.  In his right hand, he’s holding a blowdryer that is plugged into the wall and pointing it at his head.

And, to close, here’s the picture of John Callahan, featured on his website:

R.I.P. Callahan.