This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/10/arts/artsspecial/william-hamilton-popular-cartoonist-at-the-new-yorker-dies-in-car-crash.html
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 4 | Version 5 |
|---|---|
| William Hamilton, New Yorker Cartoonist Who Lampooned the Comfortable, Dies at 76 | |
| (about 13 hours later) | |
| William Hamilton, a cartoonist whose work for The New Yorker over more than 50 years was known for skewering the wealthy and the powerful, died on Friday in a car crash in Lexington, Ky. He was 76. | William Hamilton, a cartoonist whose work for The New Yorker over more than 50 years was known for skewering the wealthy and the powerful, died on Friday in a car crash in Lexington, Ky. He was 76. |
| His wife, Lucy Young Hamilton, confirmed his death. | His wife, Lucy Young Hamilton, confirmed his death. |
| She said he was driving about four miles from their horse farm when he either passed out or was distracted and drove through a stop sign. His vehicle was struck on the driver’s side by a pickup truck, she said. | She said he was driving about four miles from their horse farm when he either passed out or was distracted and drove through a stop sign. His vehicle was struck on the driver’s side by a pickup truck, she said. |
| Lt. Jackie Newman of the Lexington Police Department said the collision happened on a rural road around 2:45 p.m. Mr. Hamilton was pronounced dead at the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington. | Lt. Jackie Newman of the Lexington Police Department said the collision happened on a rural road around 2:45 p.m. Mr. Hamilton was pronounced dead at the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington. |
| Mr. Hamilton, who also wrote novels and plays, began his career with The New Yorker in 1965 and was still working there at his death. | Mr. Hamilton, who also wrote novels and plays, began his career with The New Yorker in 1965 and was still working there at his death. |
| His cartoons — densely drawn in a style more realistic than cartoonish — were distinctive, Lewis H. Lapham, the editor of Lapham’s Quarterly and a longtime friend, said on Saturday. | His cartoons — densely drawn in a style more realistic than cartoonish — were distinctive, Lewis H. Lapham, the editor of Lapham’s Quarterly and a longtime friend, said on Saturday. |
| “You were never in doubt about who the cartoonist was,” Mr. Lapham said. “He had a particular beat, as it were — the preppy world, the world of Ralph Lauren, the Protestant WASP establishment that was on their way out, holding on to their diminishing privileges.” | “You were never in doubt about who the cartoonist was,” Mr. Lapham said. “He had a particular beat, as it were — the preppy world, the world of Ralph Lauren, the Protestant WASP establishment that was on their way out, holding on to their diminishing privileges.” |
| In one of Mr. Hamilton’s cartoons, two men in dark suits are talking to each other in an office. “Dobbs, we’ve been through the executive roster ten times,” the caption reads, “and decided you’re the man for the job. How would you like to take a price-fixing rap?” | In one of Mr. Hamilton’s cartoons, two men in dark suits are talking to each other in an office. “Dobbs, we’ve been through the executive roster ten times,” the caption reads, “and decided you’re the man for the job. How would you like to take a price-fixing rap?” |
| In another, two women at a table talk over glasses of wine. The caption reads, “He’s perfectly nice, but sort of boring, like good cholesterol or something.” | In another, two women at a table talk over glasses of wine. The caption reads, “He’s perfectly nice, but sort of boring, like good cholesterol or something.” |
| Although Mr. Hamilton took a pin to overinflated egos, his work did not spring from anger, Mr. Lapham said. “He had a gracious mind, I thought, and a very lovely wit,” he said. | Although Mr. Hamilton took a pin to overinflated egos, his work did not spring from anger, Mr. Lapham said. “He had a gracious mind, I thought, and a very lovely wit,” he said. |
| Some of Mr. Hamilton’s work was inspired by his own encounters with people and situations, his daughter and son-in-law, Alexandra and Billy Kimball, said in an email. | Some of Mr. Hamilton’s work was inspired by his own encounters with people and situations, his daughter and son-in-law, Alexandra and Billy Kimball, said in an email. |
| “He took a rarefied world and broke it down into terms that would seem familiar to any socially insecure high school student anywhere,” they wrote. | “He took a rarefied world and broke it down into terms that would seem familiar to any socially insecure high school student anywhere,” they wrote. |
| As Mr. Hamilton himself once put it: “I see a lot of the people I draw. They’re my friends.” | As Mr. Hamilton himself once put it: “I see a lot of the people I draw. They’re my friends.” |
| Mr. Hamilton began drawing as a child, and his first rejection came from The Saturday Evening Post when he was 12, The New York Sun reported in 2005. He had submitted a cartoon of burglars complaining about the rain as they broke into a house. | Mr. Hamilton began drawing as a child, and his first rejection came from The Saturday Evening Post when he was 12, The New York Sun reported in 2005. He had submitted a cartoon of burglars complaining about the rain as they broke into a house. |
| Mr. Hamilton’s fascination with high society came from “being near money, but far enough away that I couldn’t quite get my fingers around it,” he told The New York Times in 1988. | Mr. Hamilton’s fascination with high society came from “being near money, but far enough away that I couldn’t quite get my fingers around it,” he told The New York Times in 1988. |
| William Hamilton was born on June 2, 1939, in Palo Alto, Calif., the son of Alexander Hamilton and the former Ellen Ballentine. He grew up on a family estate in St. Helena, Calif., in Napa County. | William Hamilton was born on June 2, 1939, in Palo Alto, Calif., the son of Alexander Hamilton and the former Ellen Ballentine. He grew up on a family estate in St. Helena, Calif., in Napa County. |
| “We lived on one of those dwindling trust funds,” he once said, “with a hint of money in the past, but not much in the present.” | “We lived on one of those dwindling trust funds,” he once said, “with a hint of money in the past, but not much in the present.” |
| He went to Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., and Yale, from which he graduated in 1962. He served in Alaska with the Army from 1963 to 1965. | He went to Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., and Yale, from which he graduated in 1962. He served in Alaska with the Army from 1963 to 1965. |
| Mr. Hamilton’s first two marriages ended in divorce. He married Lucy Young Boutin in 2003. In addition to her and his daughter, his immediate survivors include a son, Gilliam; a sister, Diana Stockton; a brother, Alexander; and two grandchildren. | Mr. Hamilton’s first two marriages ended in divorce. He married Lucy Young Boutin in 2003. In addition to her and his daughter, his immediate survivors include a son, Gilliam; a sister, Diana Stockton; a brother, Alexander; and two grandchildren. |
| Mr. Hamilton and his wife lived part of the year in St. Helena and part of the year in Lexington, his wife’s hometown. | Mr. Hamilton and his wife lived part of the year in St. Helena and part of the year in Lexington, his wife’s hometown. |
| Mr. Hamilton’s handful of plays and novels are largely concentrated on the same upper class that was grist for his cartoons, and hold to their same satirical mix of acid and amusement. | Mr. Hamilton’s handful of plays and novels are largely concentrated on the same upper class that was grist for his cartoons, and hold to their same satirical mix of acid and amusement. |
| One play, “Save Grand Central,” is the story of two mismatched Upper East Side couples and the attempt by one of the men, a ravenous lawyer, to replace the pretentious upscale restaurant owned by the other with a Burger King. When it appeared Off Broadway in 1980, The Times’s Mel Gussow wrote that Mr. Hamilton was even funnier writing for the stage than he was in cartoons. | One play, “Save Grand Central,” is the story of two mismatched Upper East Side couples and the attempt by one of the men, a ravenous lawyer, to replace the pretentious upscale restaurant owned by the other with a Burger King. When it appeared Off Broadway in 1980, The Times’s Mel Gussow wrote that Mr. Hamilton was even funnier writing for the stage than he was in cartoons. |
| Mr. Hamilton’s novels include “The Love of Rich Women” (1980), about a poor young man who falls for a rich young woman and encounters complications with her family; “The Charlatan” (1985), about a man from a rugged background who marries well and is about to inherit his wife’s fortune when, instead of dying as anticipated, she asks for a divorce; and “The Lap of Luxury” (1988), “a witty moral tale set in the New York art world,” as Susan Cheever described it in The New York Times Book Review, about a poor painter who marries into fabulous wealth. | Mr. Hamilton’s novels include “The Love of Rich Women” (1980), about a poor young man who falls for a rich young woman and encounters complications with her family; “The Charlatan” (1985), about a man from a rugged background who marries well and is about to inherit his wife’s fortune when, instead of dying as anticipated, she asks for a divorce; and “The Lap of Luxury” (1988), “a witty moral tale set in the New York art world,” as Susan Cheever described it in The New York Times Book Review, about a poor painter who marries into fabulous wealth. |
| Mr. Hamilton considered his work as a playwright and novelist a mixed success. | Mr. Hamilton considered his work as a playwright and novelist a mixed success. |
| “It is like a line in one of my cartoons,” he told People magazine in 1979, shortly before his first novel was published: “‘Although I haven’t exactly been published or produced, I have had some things professionally typed.’” | “It is like a line in one of my cartoons,” he told People magazine in 1979, shortly before his first novel was published: “‘Although I haven’t exactly been published or produced, I have had some things professionally typed.’” |