Die Laughing

How does a young man who learns jazz and classical piano, scours Europe's great art galleries for artistic enlightenment and falls in love with women from all over the world go on to become reviled as a bigot? The answer has less to do with him than it does with his critics. As cartoonist Bill Leak discovered, all it takes is to express an opinion that diff ers from today's neo-authoritarian narrative. When Leak, late in life, provoked the wrath of politically correct mobs and institutions, he didn't fl inch, adhering to what he knew to be the truth and ridiculing his detractors with his brilliant caricatures and savage intellect. These battles were signifi cant and symbolic, but should not define Leak's life and work. Fred Pawle has spent three years researching and interviewing dozens of Leak's friends and colleagues to create this intimate and honest biography. Now, for the fi rst time, here is the whole beautiful but occasionally troubled story behind an extraordinarily gifted Australian artist, cartoonist, writer and raconteur.