Paul Coker Jr., 1929-2022
The world lost another of the Usual Gang of Idiots recently with the passing of the wonderful Paul Coker Jr. on July 23rd at age 93.
Paul was, at least in my opinion, a seriously underrated member of the UGOI. His work was elegant and beautifully drawn, and yet was as forcefully funny as anything else you saw in MAD. His “Horrifying Cliches” was a long running favorite feature in the magazine and what he is probably best known for, but he illustrated hundreds and hundreds of other features that showed the versatility of his unique style. Paul even did a number of TV and movie parodies over the years including film spoofs of “Arachnophobia” “Casper”, several “Star Trek” movies, “Twister”, “Jurassic Park: The Lost World” and TV shows “Sabrina the Teenage Witch”, “Caroline in the City” and “Frasier”.
Of course he was also very successful outside of MAD. He did a lot of work for greeting cards, but his animation character and production design for Rankin/Bass stamped his distinctive style into the American pop culture collective memory through classic shows like “Frosty the Snowman”, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”, “The Year Without a Santa Claus” and many more.
I didn’t know Paul well and only met him on a handful of occasions. The best and longest of which was the “It’s a MAD, MAD, SCAD Weekend” in November of 2011. The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) hosted a weekend gathering of members of the UGOI for a series of panels, presentations, and general tomfoolery… see the pic above for the lineup. The Lovely Anna and I got to spend some time with Paul and his charming wife Rosemary during that weekend. They were wonderful people and a delight to talk to. Anna and I bought one of his originals at the fundraiser, which proudly hangs in my “Friends Gallery” outside the studio door:
Rest in peace, Paul. Thanks for sharing your talent with the world. It is a better place for it.
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Thanks, Tom. Unfortunately, another one of the great UGOIs is gone now.
RIP Paul Coker, Jr. I was fortunate to meet him at the NCS Reuben W/E in Memphis. I gushed, upon shaking his hand: “You, Mr. Coker, are one of my GODS!!” To which he retorted, rather dead-panned: “Kid, you had better get a life!!” He then smiled and thanked me for such an effusive greeting. He was a very unassuming genius!
so sorry to her this…I designed a handful of books in ’80s and ’90s that Paul illustrated; he also saved an article for me in a magazine I was art directing at the time…He often provided more than one illustration for each given situation, a designer’s dream…Paul was unassuming and a real joy to work with.
You barely had any gray at the temples and everyone else was showing their “maturity”, you young whipper snapper. I know that had to be a proud moment to be with the cream of the crop.
RIP Paul Coker Jr. Love his cartoons and style! I started reading MAD in the 90s and his work was very present that era.
Thanks for posting this. I was a huge fan of Paul Coker. You nailed it. His drawings were elegant. Depicting a very funny moment and character with simplicity of line.