The rumor is making the rounds of the web that the great cartoonist Jack Davis, best known for his work in MAD magazine, has passed away. This is not so. Apparently, someone else with that name died, leading to the erroneous conclusion.
I was suspicious last night when I returned home from a dinner meeting and found a raft of e-mails from folks asking me to confirm it. The dinner meeting (seen below) had been with some folks who work on MAD including its editor, John Ficarra. John hadn't heard anything about it and neither had any of the rest of us.
Left to right, we have MAD writers Tony Barbieri and Scott Maiko, Sergio Aragonés, John, MAD writer Arnie Kogen and me. The photo was taken by a very attractive waitress who had never heard of MAD magazine, which means that an upcoming issue will feature an unflattering piece called "A MAD Look at Very Attractive Waitresses Who Have Never Heard of MAD Magazine." Some topics are just begging for satire.