Mason Ball extending his father’s legacy with biography

Tears streamed down Mason Ball’s face as he looked at the trees his father had planted on the family property’s hillside.

Mason knew then he wanted to extend his father’s legacy, he told those who attended the Gisborne launch of Mason’s biography, Murray Ball — A Cartoonist’s Life, on Friday at Muirs Bookshop.

“Ideas came to me but initially they were quite raw,” Mason said.

“It was almost like I was singing out of tune. After getting some feedback and after a little pause, my wife said I should go on with it.”

Mason recalled things he enjoyed about his father and realised if he didn’t write the biography someone else would, and that it would be likely the Footrot Flats cartoon strips would dominate the story.

“I wanted it to be a more authentic biography. I wrote, and faltered again, but my brother said ‘maybe you should get an editor’.”

With the help of editor Maria de Jong, Mason persevered.

De Jong also took on the role of literary agent and Harper Collins published the book.

In a brief outline of his father’s initial struggle to get his cartoons accepted, Mason said the family moved to England where Murray found work as an illustrator for children’s comics.

Eventually his political cartoons Bruce the Barbarian and Stanley were accepted by Punch, a weekly magazine of humour and satire.

“That was a turning point for Dad. Through Stanley he gave punch to Punch magazine.

“He believed cartooning was a vehicle for shifting public opinion. Footrot Flats was an aberration in that respect.”

Mason’s biography extends beyond Murray’s evolution as a cartoonist, however, and encompasses his father’s forthright political outlook and family life.

The author recalled joining Murray and his mother Pam for morning teas where Murray would ask him what his ambitions were; how he planned to make a difference in the world.

“If you were expecting small talk you were at the wrong smoko.”

Although politics were the main theme of his cartoons, after the Ball family made Gisborne their home, their farm provided a wealth of material for a new cartoon strip — Footrot Flats.

“Dad took a pen and paper with him when he went out to do jobs on the property. There was plenty of inspiration and characters there in those days.”

A resident rooster would fly at their faces, stroppy geese controlled part of the property and the cat Horse would bring in eels and hawks, Mason said.

When the Footrot Flats cartoon strips gained widespread popularity and were adapted for the film Footrot Flats: The Dog’s Tale, Murray moved his workspace from a Skyline garage into an office he shared with Pam.

“Mum ran the administration side of things and balanced Dad’s flair with common sense.”

Although Murray was a very private man, fans would sometimes visit the farm in the hope of meeting the famous cartoonist, Mason said.

On hearing their voices, though, Murray would slip out of his office and quietly disappear through the flax bushes out the back.