Funny Bunny friends
Bunny Hoest held her annual bash at her Lloyd Neck Estate. It all started years ago when her husband Bill was busy working on the Lockhorns and having their house built and he invited a couple of buddies to come over, have a sandwich and check out the view. When you live your life thinking of ways to make people smile then you’d better make sure that you keep plenty of them for yourself. Bunny is carrying on her late husband’s work on the Lockhorns as well as the yearly gathering of friends. This place and these people make a lot of smiles and no one is ready to give that up. I can’t think of a better way to spend the early days of summer than with this group of cartoonists and artists at Bunny Hoest’s beautiful home overlooking the Long Island Sound. Besides Bunny herself who is one of the most widely read cartoonists today, reaching nearly 200 million diverse readers every week, there was a mind boggling amount of talent gathered together to share a meal, a drink and a lot of laughs. Included in the 120 guests were: John Reiner, Sy Barry, Mort Drucker, Stan Goldberg, Sam Gross, Joe Giella, George Booth, Matt Diffey, Mort Gerber, Sandy Kossin, Emilio S., Rocky Shepard (President of King Features), Mark Mitchell (Disney), Keith McCloat (VP of King Features), Don Orhek, Sam Viviano (MAD magazine), Charlie Kochman, Randy Jones, Tom Stemmle, Frank Bolle, Mike Lynch. They hailed from Long Island, NYC, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. ***click on photos to enlarge***
Artist Joe Leonard and sons, and cartoonists Helen-Murdock-Prep and Bunny Hoest
I don’t believe that I’ve ever encountered a more modest and friendly group of celebrities then these folks..not that I’ve met that many but I did moil in Aspen for several years.
Sandy Kossin and Sy Barry
The breeze and comraderie was refreshing in a Brigadoon sort of way. It was as if we were lifted up and placed in happy cartoon land. Cover artist and illustrator Sandy Kossin and Phantom cartoonist,Sy Barry kept each other smiling.
Sam Gross
Prominent New Yorker cartoonist Sam Gross keeps you off balance with his one-liners while Joe Giella of the Mary Worth comic strip keeps on smiling.
Joe Giella
There was a very un-celebrity like kindness and an honest appreciation of each others’ work whether the artist was an FNG (Friggin New Guy) or world renowned.
Mort Drucker of Mad Magazine fame gets the Bunny ears! Wouldn’t life be perfect if we could all party with cartoonists?
Perfect
That was a fun piece.We need more of these kinds of people.-great reporting
This was a fun piece! I actually have the pleasure of knowing Sam Gross and his wife Isabelle. They’re both wonderful people. Except when Sam showed me some cartoons his was working on and I told him I didn’t get it. He turned to my husband and said, “I thought you said this one was smart!”
Sorry I missed it! Next year!
[...] of the cartoonists you’ll find sitting in the sun and enjoying the views. We usually make the news. Here are a few photos: #gallery-1 { margin: auto; } #gallery-1 .gallery-item { float: left; [...]
Maybe they can host some “afforable housing” on the huge piece of property? Perfect!
My stepdaughter Armani and I had a wonderful time. Good people, good food, and lots of laughs. Thanks Bunny!
I am wondering if Ms. Hoest would be at all interested in renting her outdoor space for a wedding for one day?