Erik Brady: A hazy evening of memories of Mark Russell and his place in the pantheon of American satirists

The annual event is run by a charitable arm of the University Club of Washington, founded in 1904. William Howard Taft was its first president — and Russell certainly its funniest member.

When we lost the Buffalo-born political satirist last spring, I wrote an appreciation for The Buffalo News. Barry Hart, who is chair of the dinner, happened to read it and asked if I would speak about Mark at the next dinner. It so happens that I am not a cigar aficionado, but Barry said this didn’t disqualify me. I am, after all, a Russell aficionado.

I interviewed Mark for the first time in my first week at the Courier-Express, in 1975, and many more times through the years for the Courier and USA Today. My story for the Courier’s Sunday magazine told about Mark’s days as a class clown at Canisius High School, when he was often sent to detention (known there as Jug) for poking fun at authority. “Basically,” he said, “I figured out a way to turn Jug into a livelihood.”

Mark’s beloved wife, Ali, told a wonderful story at the dinner about the time when Mark smoked a cigar, tossed the butt into a trash can, and took a nap. He awoke to a blaze. The nanny next door had to put it out with a fire extinguisher.

Mark almost burned down the house — and Ali’s story brought down the house. Then she introduced me to the assembled smokers. Here is what I told them:

We are here tonight to celebrate the memory of the great Mark Russell in a way that he would appreciate — through the bluish-white haze of fine cigar smoke.

Mark was the dean of American political satirists in a line of succession running through Mark Twain and Will Rogers. All three loved a good joke — and a good smoke.

We lost Mark last spring, at age 90. His funeral Mass was followed by a rollicking reception in the church hall….