Stanley McMurtry
Desert Island Discs: Archive 2005-2010
BBC
4.4 • 804 Ratings
🗓️ 23 March 2008
⏱️ 36 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the cartoonist Mac. He's been the Daily Mail's cartoonist for the past 38 years - and it's his job, he says, to make the "dreary news copy of the daily paper brighter, by putting in a laugh". Since he was a child he was always drawing - inventing strip cartoons in his spare time and sketching figures in the margins of his school books. Yet despite his obvious talent, there was scant nurturing of his ambitions at home. His father told him he'd never make the grade and, instead, he should concentrate on finding a proper job.
But Mac says that all the way through, he's been lucky. Whenever he's found himself stuck, he's come across someone who would encourage him to take the next step. Life has, he says, been a series of lucky coincidences.
[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]
Favourite track: The Adagio from Bruch's Violin Concerto in G Minor by Bruch Book: The collected works by John Steinbeck Luxury: Tenor saxophone.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're about to listen to a BBC podcast, but this is about something else you might enjoy. |
| 0:05.4 | My name's Katie Lecky and I'm an assistant commissioner for on demand music on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:10.7 | The BBC has an incredible musical heritage and culture and as a music lover, I love being part of that. |
| 0:17.4 | With music on sounds, we offer collections and mixes for everything, from workouts to helping |
| 0:22.7 | you nod off, boogie in your kitchen, or even just a moment of calm. And they're all put together |
| 0:28.7 | by people who know their stuff. So if you want some expertly curated music in your life, |
| 0:34.9 | check out BBC Sounds. Hello, I'm Krista Young, and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs Archive. |
| 0:41.8 | For rights reasons, we've had to shorten the music. |
| 0:44.9 | The program was originally broadcast in 2008. |
| 1:08.8 | Music My castaway this week is the cartoonist Mac. For 38 years he's worked at the Daily Mail, |
| 1:14.2 | in his own words, making the dreary news copy of the daily paper brighter by putting in a laugh. |
| 1:17.2 | He's been successful in spite of his beginnings. |
| 1:20.2 | He had to quit art school because his family couldn't afford the fees. |
| 1:25.5 | And his father continually told him he was wasting his time drawing and would never make the grade. |
| 1:26.7 | Well, he did. |
| 1:28.7 | And his work has been enjoyed over the decades, not only by the Hoy-Polloy, but by Prime Ministers and Superstars. Frank Sinatra got in touch |
| 1:34.2 | personally to voice his appreciation. What was all that about? What did old blue eyes want you for? |
| 1:38.3 | Well, I was all of a bit of a surprise because Frank Sinatra had been in the newspapers |
| 1:42.9 | and been accused of being part of the mafia. |
| 1:46.2 | And I decided I would do a cartoon about it. |
| 1:49.0 | I can't remember what the cartoon was about, |
| 1:50.6 | but it was a funny one, Lightheart, |
... |
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