Some Thoughts On Thurber On His 129th Birthday
I’m going to use James Thurber’s 129th birthday as an excuse to celebrate not just his art, and (forgive me) to briefly reflect on how his art changed my life. Plenty of other influences came my way in my pre-New Yorker life, but none of them more profound than the giant switch thrown the day I first saw a Thurber drawing. I went from compulsively drawing things I saw around me to drawing things I imagined. My early “style” went from overwrought/overthought line work to simple lines. Simple lines, that to me, expressed way more of myself; this was one of Thurber’s many gifts to me.
Leading me to The New Yorker was yet another Thurber gift. I discovered, through researching Thurber’s life, that The New Yorker‘s ethos centered on the artist originating ideas, not the magazine’s editors supplying ideas. It was just too good to be true. But it was true, and remains true.
Whenever I talk about Thurber’s art I find it impossible to pin down exactly what it is about his humor that swooped me up all those years ago and took me to The New Yorker; whatever I say is never enough — it doesn’t get to the core reason. I suppose it really is like trying to explain why some some say ‘po-tay-doh’ and others say ‘po-tah-doh.’ All I know is that the world Thurber created with his drawings never ever fails me.
There are often days here at home when I bring a Thurber book over to Liza (my wife, and fellow Thurber fanatic) to show her a drawing I’ve been enjoying. As the two of us look at the drawing, everything stands still for a moment, and then we sigh. I think the sigh comes out of astonishment, and of course, love.
One of the most obvious Thurber gifts to this household is inspiration. For me (and for Liza), his art is the high bar. There are plenty of artists whose work I love — I’ve certainly taken a little something, drawing-wise, from everyone of them — but Thurber’s work, and the very idea of his work, is my daily spark.
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Photo of Thurber: a screenshot off the video of the 1960 Tony Awards. Thurber was presented with a Special Prize for The Thurber Carnival.
I’ve loved Thurber since I first found his stories, about 60 years ago. His stories, with O. Henry, George Ade, Mark Twain and many others, lightened an otherwise banal adolescence. I’m glad others love him too!