193. Jim Wilson: Where Is He Now?

January 28, 2010

Q: Does anyone know what became of Jim Wilson, the man who made satirical props for the Lampoon? I think he did the recycling machine on the cover of Best Of #6, and certainly the Roach Motel in the Sleaze issue. Did he move on to other things? Is he dead?

A: Apparently he’s still alive. Jim answers the question himself in the Comments below. (Thanks, Jim!)

Comments

I'm still alive! I drifted away from NL when PJ O'Rourke and Shary Flenniken left. PJ's replacement (Gerry Sussman)had a different approach to humor, and the money sucked anyway. I would submit a list of projects with text and sketches, and PJ would indicate the ones he wanted to buy. There were several still on the list when I left but Sussman didn't nag me for them, and maybe never even knew about the list. I continued to make props for other people's NL articles, as that paid better per time required. I went on to write and produce occasional prop humor packages for Playboy, Penthouse, and other magazines. I also did a regular monthly piece for Penthouse Forum, for a year or two. I was a heavy contributor to Dell's "Junk Food" Humor anthology, from the early '80s. the later "Greetings From Roach Motel" was an idea which only worked for NL, so I shopped the idea and sold it. Since the mid-'80s, I've mostly been the art director for the Mr.Bill films, videos, books, calendars, greeting cards and TV commercials. In my spare time I build bicycles from scratch, and the occasional electric kiddy vehicle.

—Jim Wilson

June 23, 2010 11:52 pm

Thanks, Jim! Nothing like a primary source answer.

—Mark

June 24, 2010 10:57 am

You're welcome, Mark. You have a great site. I hadn't been here for a while, though, until Shary F. told me that a question about me had shown up here. I couldn't resist answering it.

—Jim Wilson

June 24, 2010 9:02 pm

Thanks for answering my question, Jim. I always loved your constructions. I would've bought the Axis MetaSystem, only it looked too powerful.

—Carol

June 29, 2010 11:10 pm

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