# Al Jaffee Died At 102 (2023-04-10) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death\ **Created:** [April 10, 2023, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jaffee-died-at-102-2023-04-10/982475 "2023-04-10T23:26:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2023, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jaffee-died-at-102-2023-04-10/982475/1 "2023-04-10T23:26:47Z")
I haven’t given much thought to Jaffee in recent decades. But he was a genius and an influence for many, many people… and I was sorry to hear that he had passed. > **[Al Jaffee, King of the Mad Magazine Fold-In, Dies at 102](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/10/arts/al-jaffee-dead.html)** > > For 55 years, he encouraged fans of the satiric magazine to mutilate it. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2023, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jaffee-died-at-102-2023-04-10/982475/2 "2023-04-10T23:40:23Z")
I was certainly a fan from the mid 1960s into the early 70s. And I’ve loved re-visiting his work in various anthologies since then. A life fully lived! ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2023, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jaffee-died-at-102-2023-04-10/982475/3 "2023-04-10T23:46:06Z")
Awww, man. Mad was such a big part of my childhood, and probably a significant influence on my weird sense of humor. Of the guys who were big names on the magazine staff back in the '70s, I think that Sergio Aragones may be the only one left now. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2023, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jaffee-died-at-102-2023-04-10/982475/4 "2023-04-10T23:55:09Z")
[![](https://i.postimg.cc/gjr1ZqQ6/Book0083-6ec9c12e-6dce-421b-953a-c7620fcb4c13.jpg) ](https://i.postimg.cc/gjr1ZqQ6/Book0083-6ec9c12e-6dce-421b-953a-c7620fcb4c13.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2023, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jaffee-died-at-102-2023-04-10/982475/5 "2023-04-10T23:55:34Z")
For better or worse, I shall always be indebted to him for sending me off on a life-long journey of providing Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jaffee-died-at-102-2023-04-10/982475/6 "2023-04-11T00:00:13Z")
I hope they don’t try to bury him in a coffin from the Shoddee Casket Company. 😖 RIP, Al! ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jaffee-died-at-102-2023-04-10/982475/7 "2023-04-11T00:03:53Z")
Nice to see he was prepared. Also, I’m pretty sure I had that book. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jaffee-died-at-102-2023-04-10/982475/8 "2023-04-11T01:59:53Z")
He would sneak adult content into his cartoons that I didn’t get as a kid, but did I ever as an adult, and it was often very funny. RIP. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jaffee-died-at-102-2023-04-10/982475/9 "2023-04-11T10:40:39Z")
**MAD Magazine** was a big influence on me as a kid, as it was for many around the globe, and Al Jaffee was a big part of MAD. MAD’s brand of satire was sharp, insightful, and didn’t write down to young minds. It gave us insight into the absurdities of real life and helped us develop critical skills to question authority better. I posted a [thread about this](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mad-magazine-change-our-world/751631/1) a while back. RIP Al Jaffee ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jaffee-died-at-102-2023-04-10/982475/10 "2023-04-11T11:23:25Z")
Dang, 102? Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions was practically my bible as a kid. I also tried to emulate his fold-ins, but they were a lot more difficult than I realized. I read where he didn’t even bother with constructing the folded result first. He just had a couple of vertical lines on his drawing board as guides and did the whole thing in one sitting. He was able to constrain chaos into geometric symmetry by pure instinct. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jaffee-died-at-102-2023-04-10/982475/11 "2023-04-11T11:58:47Z")
> **[Al Jaffee, longtime 'Mad Magazine' cartoonist, dies at 102](https://www.npr.org/2023/04/10/1169162240/mad-magazine-cartoonist-al-jaffee-obituary)** > > Mad Magazine's ageless wise guy delighted millions of readers with the sneaky fun of the Fold-In and the snark of "Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions." Al Jaffee had retired at age 99. I loved Mad Magazine, and especially loved the “fold in” pages he drew. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jaffee-died-at-102-2023-04-10/982475/12 "2023-04-11T12:12:48Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions > [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions So, does this mean he won’t be making any more Fold-Ins? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jaffee-died-at-102-2023-04-10/982475/13 "2023-04-11T14:38:59Z")
I bought my MADs off the rack for several years as a young teen. I would always find the one that someone had already folded the back cover on. That’s how lazy I was. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jaffee-died-at-102-2023-04-10/982475/14 "2023-04-11T14:50:19Z")
My great Aunt Re bought my brother a subscription for his birthday every year. I read his. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jaffee-died-at-102-2023-04-10/982475/15 "2023-04-11T14:50:58Z")
Wow, I had totally forgotten about the folding back covers and I was totally into Mad magizene from ages 11 to 16 back in the 70’s. I feel bad about forgetting this. RIP Al, you brought me much joy. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jaffee-died-at-102-2023-04-10/982475/16 "2023-04-11T15:15:49Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > I bought my MADs off the rack for several years as a young teen. I would always find the one that someone had already folded the back cover on. That’s how lazy I was I always carefully bent but never folded the back covers because I didn’t want creases. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jaffee-died-at-102-2023-04-10/982475/17 "2023-04-11T16:13:59Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > I was certainly a fan from the mid 1960s into the early 70s. And I’ve loved re-visiting his work in various anthologies since then. A life fully lived! In case you’re not aware, [here](https://www.madcoversite.com/index.html) is a website of all things Mad. The best thing about visiting my aunt’s house\* was that I was free to sit on the floor next to my older cousin’s collection of Mads and peruse them at my leisure. He had issues dating back to the 1950s. I started my own collection in the late 1960s and grabbed every issue for about a decade. I still have them. RIP, Jaff. You and the other usual gang of idiots had a significant effect on who I am as an adult. mmm \*He also had a collection of Playboys that I may have peeked at now and then. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jaffee-died-at-102-2023-04-10/982475/18 "2023-04-11T16:48:07Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > In case you’re not aware, [here](https://www.madcoversite.com/index.html) is a website of all things Mad. Heh. I recognize most of the covers from 1964-74. I used to have all the Mad paperbacks up until about 1973 or so, but mom purged all that when I was at college, along with the magazines. Argh!!! ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jaffee-died-at-102-2023-04-10/982475/19 "2023-04-11T16:49:22Z")
Out of 550 issues of Mad Magazine, Al Jaffee had new work appear in 500 of them. Absolutely amazing career. Also, the OP missed an opportunity to name this thread, “Al Jaffee folds.” ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-jaffee-died-at-102-2023-04-10/982475/20 "2023-04-11T16:59:32Z")
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