Dry Bones was resurrected as Israel’s premier cartoonist at age 81

Much has been written about the life of Yaakov Kirschen – known as "Dry Bones" to his large number of adoring fans – but little has been written about his return to drawing cartoons in his eighties until his death on 14 April at the age of 87.

Together Dry Bones and I collaborated on publishing 335 of my articles over more than six years on a regular weekly basis – each of my articles being accompanied by a cartoon drawn by Dry Bones expressing his take on the subject matter of each article.

I had long been a fan of Yaakov's from the time I purchased the 1977 original of the following cartoon on sale in an upmarket art gallery in Tel Aviv:

I first personally met Yaakov and his charming wife Sali – whom Yaakov affectionately called LSW – Long Suffering Wife – following the publication of his remarkable and unique Haggadah in 2013 – peppered with cartoons and comic strips that will ensure every page brings pleasure and laughter to the reader:

Our collaboration actually began on 9 January 2019 when his following cartoon accompanied my article entitled: "US and Israel quit over UNESCO's love affair with Palestine."

He was not a well man then – confined to a wheel chair with little mobility – but able to get to his beloved computer to embark on our incredible journey.

For the next 334 weeks until about six weeks before his death - we went through a weekly ritual in which I sent him my articles from Sydney and he returned his cartoon from Herzliya that was able to convey what I had struggled to produce in 620 words.

I never questioned his cartoons - giving him free rein to express himself as he thought fit. I questioned his choice of words frequently included in his cartoons – but these differences were settled over the phone in an amicable manner.