„You know, you would make a lousy seeing-eye dog.“, Sam Gross uttered into my direction. We were just exiting a liquor store and i was carrying for him his magnum size bottle of Jack Daniels, to be delivered into his apartment. Walking directly next and only paying attention to Sam and any word that might come out of his mouth, i was leading us directly into a brick wall next to that store, when Sam looked up just in time and intervened.
The whole time we were walking through town, Sam seemed to know every inch of the city, navigating perfectly only by looking at the ground. Age had bent him like a banana, forcing him to face downwards, talking quietly, while the noises of the city were competing with him. So while walking through the streets at a turtle-like pace, i had to submit to his banana shape and tried to bring my ear as close as possible to his mouth at all times, not to miss any story, comment, wisdom or sarcastic remark. We were the two hunchbacks of New York City.
It was my first time in New York, but more than anything else, the main reason for traveling there, was to grab the opportunity to hang out with Sam Gross. Through a lucky incident, initiated by Ken Krimstein, that led to an e-mail exchange with Sam, i jumped at his offer to meet. In the end we spent time together on three separate days in September of 2019.
Sam is my favorite Gag Cartoonist. His body of work was and remains a major influence on my own attempts and on what i think Cartoonists ought to deliver. In person he was kind, funny and generous with his time. My condolences to his daughter Michelle, whom i met also on our first day together, Sam’s wife and everyone that knew, valued, liked or loved him. Rest in peace and lots of love to Sam Gross.
His work can be found at https://www.instagram.com/samgrosscartoons/, in books like „I am blind and my dog is dead“(1977), „An elephant is soft and mushy“(1980), „More Gross“(1982), „No more Mr. Nice Guy“(1987), “Your mother is a remarkable woman“(1992), „We have ways of making you laugh“(2008) and hopefully in many exhibitions and book projects to come in the near future.
– Oliver Ottitsch, Sunday 7. May 2023