Remembering Don Asmussen
Don Asmussen died of cancer on December 9, 2021.
This is terrible news for his many, many fans, friends, and family. I’m not sure I’d have the courage to create The Wig Diaries book without Don’s help and contributions. He provided his trademark humor and great ideas. For that project, we enjoyed riffing, laughing, and swapping life stories and gory medical details in our meetings. I’d also listen to him share about his wife, Kelly, and daughters Tessa and Maxine - they remained his great loves and muses.
Since Don and I both loath the pity and angst that people dump on cancer patients, I avoided bringing sappy sentiments at our meetings. At the end of what would turn out to be our last in person meeting, we shuffle-walked back to the Chronicle. Due to the cancer’s spread, Don was having some difficulty walking, and lacked sensation in many parts of his body. He did something new that only made sense to my brain when I was alone later. Don said goodbye, and turned his eyes and body towards the Chronicle’s front door. He paused, and reached out and held onto my arm lightly, patting it a few times. I looked down at my arm, and could sense that there was a reason he would not look my way. It was a long fifteen or twenty seconds, maybe. People got on and off the 14 bus behind us. As the city was hustling and bustling, Don was giving me his version of a goodbye. I had an ugly cry in my car, as traffic streamed passed me on Mission Street. Hot tip: that thick stack of take out napkins stuffed in the door double as snot rags!
Read more about Don’s life and work:
Cartoonist Don Asmussen’s obituary, in his own words (San Francisco Chronicle)
The witty, subversive work of Chronicle cartoonist Don Asmussen (San Francisco Chronicle)
San Francisco Chronicle cartoonist Don Asmussen: Brilliant artist found humor in the headlines (and everywhere else) (San Francisco Chronicle)
Local Writers Honor The Life Of San Francisco Chronicle Cartoonist Don Asmussen (SF Gate Local News Matters Bay Area)
We’ll Miss You, Don Asmussen (KQED)
Daily Cartoonist Don Asmussen – RIP (Daily Cartoonist)
Brilliance Disguised as Silliness - Don Asmussen (Beyond THC)
About me:
Mary Ladd’s reported stories include meat dresses, dough throwing pizza champions, the cold sweat of medical debt, and withered sexuality. She started writing professionally at the San Francisco Chronicle and later collaborated with Anthony Bourdain. In 2019, she collaborated "Bad Reporter" illustrator Don Asmussen on The Wig Diaries: An Irreverent Cancer Book. Her writing is in the best-selling 642 Things to Write About and Lit Starts book series, as well as Playboy, Time Magazine, KQED, and elsewhere.
She teaches and offers her time to Bay Area Young Survivors, Breast Cancer Action, Bright Spot Network, and ZYZZYVA and loves helping people connect their thoughts to the page. Mary regularly presents her work at Litquake, the Community of Writers, and Wildfire Magazine events. She is a member of the Writers Grotto and We Wai Kai First Nation, and loves eating pizza with her husband, Oscar Villalon, and son, Cipriano.
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