Cartoonist goes on his own terms
CONTROVERSIAL cartoonist Larry Pickering ended life the same way he lived it – proudly defiant and with his family.
The 76-year-old, who was given just months to live when diagnosed with lung cancer in 2016, checked out of hospital last Thursday night and went home with his family.
He knew the end was near but decided to fight back against the “considerable’’ pain and refused painkillers, telling friends he wanted to remain lucid and conscious.
The four-time Walkley Award winner died late on Monday night surrounded by family. He is survived by wife Carol and 11 children.
Despite his illness, Mr Pickering did not stop smoking and continued to publish his cartoons on his online blog.
“I woke up in the intensive care unit and wanted a cigarette but (hospital staff) wouldn’t let me – they’ve got no sense of humour, these buggers,” he told the Bulletin in an interview in 2016.
“I wouldn’t stop drawing what I want to draw or writing what I want to write. If you do you are acquiescing.”
The Bundall resident, famed for his wit and controversial in his later life for right-wing views, was a divisive figure.
Born in Melbourne in 1942, he was a self-taught artist who broke into newspaper cartooning in 1971 and became wellknown for his work during the Whitlam and Fraser governments, which was collected into best-selling books.
His work appeared in The Australian, The Canberra Times, The National Times and the Sydney Morning Herald.
Mr Pickering retired from political work in the early 1980s and tried several ventures, including growing tomatoes and racehorses.
He bought racehorse Rising Fear for $3000, an investment that saw it almost win the 1986 Melbourne Cup, coming second by half a head.
The colourful identity made a cartooning comeback in 2011 when he took on then-prime minister Julia Gillard.
Ms Gillard branded Mr Pickering and his website “vile and sexist”.
In 2014 he led protests against a controversial proposal to open a mosque at Currumbin.
Police later placed him under protective surveillance after he posted a cartoon online of the prophet Mohammed.
Often a controversial figure, Mr Pickering also helped found Cohen Strachan Investments, a software company that went bust in 2010 owing millions.
The same year he was made an undischarged bankrupt by his former defacto wife, at the time claiming his only asset was a $250 set of golf clubs.
Queensland Police reopened an investigation into Mr Pickering in 2015, during which he was interviewed at his Bundall home.
In 2016 he was diagnosed with cancer and had surgery on a tennis ballsized hole in his left lung.
He was yesterday remembered by Peter Broelman, former president of the Australian Cartoonist Association.
“As a kid growing up, his profile back in the 80s was just immense,’’ Mr Broelman said.
“His early stuff was sensational. He was savage and funny at the same time.
“He had a very colourful upbringing and background and that certainly showed with his work.”