Death of Murray Ball mourned
AUCKLAND: Cartoonist Murray Ball, who died yesterday aged 78, was a funny, goofy and generous Kiwi, his longtime collaborator and friend Tom Scott says.
Ball, creator of Footrot Flats, had been in poor health for the past six years. He died at his home in Gisborne surrounded by family.
Scott and Ball worked together on the 1986 fulllength animated Footrot Flats movie.
‘‘He was an unbelievably strong, fit, handsome man all his life, with a full head of hair,’’ Scott said.
He said Ball was ‘‘funny and goofy and generous, and incredibly serious about inequality’’.
‘‘He mourned the New Zealand he remembered being fair, and I guess if he had his life over again,
Murray would rather have been an editorial cartoonist.’’
Scott said he had ‘‘left it a bit late’’ to see Ball before he died. He last saw him six years ago.
‘‘I heard he was so unwell that he wouldn’t know who I was . . . I regret not going when I knew. He deteriorated physically very, very quickly.
Born in Feilding, Ball moved with his family to South Africa, where he grew to loathe apartheid. After he returned to New Zealand he took an active part in opposition to the 1981 Springbok tour. A gifted athlete, Ball was a talented rugby player in the midfield and won Junior All Black selection in 1959.
Scott said he was terribly sad but also relieved at Ball’s passing.
‘‘He’s no longer suffering and his family are no longer suffering.
‘‘Heroic efforts were required to keep him going.’’
Prime Minister Bill English said he was saddened by the news. Ball, he said, was a thoughtful New Zealander
‘‘who took our unique sense of humour to the world’’.
Ball is survived by his wife Pam, and their three children.