Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for June 30, 2016

The last hurrah.

I guess this is the last of our poor bird watcher. At least he departed while doing something he loved…

Birding is dangerous! Always take a buddy-partner. ;-)

Rather a bummer. Poor guy!

He’s a real twitcher

It matters not how strait the gate,How charged with punishments the scroll,.

He was the master of his fate:He was the captain of his soul..(Even if he ran the ship aground.)

I cried when I first read this on many years ago, it is really a sad irony.

Always good to remember that the people who mean so much to us can be taken away at any time. We get so used to “the way things are” that it’s a shock when someone vanishes from among us. This is going to be tough on his partner, who will remember that her last conversation with him was her refusal (for very good reasons) to accompany him. But we shouldn’t let the possibility of suddenly losing someone interfere with our lives. One conversation, even if it was the last, is not any measure of the quality of the relationship. And we can’t always be doing what our partner would like us to do.

…a wing and a prayer…

The metaphors and symbols in this arc are timeless. It is as deliciously ironic now, as it was when I first read it, many years ago.

The click makes all the difference. He died happily doing what he loved. Now with added immortality!

This series is just so wrong… :D(No, seriously, what a privilege witnessing Trudeau make fun of death like this). :)

This discussion reminded me of how he handled Hunter S. Thompson’s death.http://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury/2005/03/08/

There are a number of stories in which Trudeau made some really beautiful moments. This really is one of them. The Andy Lippincott/AIDS story is another particularly powerful one.

Did he forget to remove the lens cap?

This reminds me of the true story of the death of a young geologist when Mt. St. Helens erupted. He was there to study the volcano and was the one who shouted “This is it!” as it exploded and he died. His father was quoted as saying that his son died doing what he loved the most and obviously that was a comfort to him.

this arc ends.

Was Dick Davenport the first death in Doonesbury, especially “on screen” as it were. Was there anyone else who died between Dick Davenport and Andy Lippincott?

I hope the lens cap was off.

Good art can break your heart while still feeling great.

The most perfectly ironic strip of all time.