In Memoriam: Mark O'Donnell, 1954-2012
When Brian, Alan, and I embarked on this project, the first writer I reached out to was Mark O’Donnell—and not just because Mark and I had been friends for twenty years, and he was a notoriously soft touch. A humorist in the classic mode, Mark worked exactly the territory we were aiming for: intelligent but not arid, incisive but not acid, ever-mellow, always sweet.
In a world full of funny, this sweetness was Mark’s signal virtue. Whenever you talked to him, you got the distinct (and sometimes distinctly uncomfortable) feeling that he was a couple of steps ahead. Most truly brilliant people don’t wait for you, but Mark always did.
We are fragile creatures subject to immediate departure; how we wait is who we are. From his apartment on the western flank of Manhattan, Mark lived a life of observation with compassion. Through his writing, and instruction at Yale, and his friendship, Mark O’Donnell gave pleasure, insight, and sweet relief to many.
You’ll see all those qualities in this piece, which is reprinted here courtesy of his brother Steve and the artist Chris Austopchuk, whose illustrations compliment Mark’s writing perfectly. We thank them both, and wish Mark well, wherever he might be waiting for us…as usual, a couple of steps ahead. —Michael Gerber
MARK O'DONNELL (words) was a poet, dramatist, cartoonist and humorist who wrote four books, many plays, and won a Tony as co-author of the book for Hairspray. He was a beloved instructor at Yale University (no mean achievement for a Harvard man).
CHRISTOPHER AUSTOPCHUK (art) is Senior Vice President at Sony Music Entertainment. For 38 years, he was a professor at the School of Visual Arts.
