Bruce McCall

Author, illustrator and cartoonist Bruce McCall has lived in New York for the past 40 years but he grew up in the quiet, peaceful idyllic town of Simcoe, Ontario. Never a strong performer in school, McCall displayed, from a very young age, a talent for drawing and writing. It was his writing that gave him his first big break, working as an copywriter in the advertising department of General Motors at their headquarters in Detroit. During the early 1970's, McCall hooked up with the brash, irreverent, satirical humour magazine National Lampoon and for McCall it was his 'single greatest psychic updraft of his life'. With renewed confidence, McCall decided to submit some of his work to The New Yorker and to his great surprise they loved it. After fifteen years as a writer, McCall was asked by then editor Tina Brown if he wanted to paint a cover of the iconic magazine. He has since painted over fifty covers including the one for this past July 22. The high school drop-out from Simcoe continues to paint and write for The New Yorker magazine.
Ken Rockburn spoke to Bruce McCall in New York City.