Last Post: Barry Humphries, Bill Leak and the end of an era

On one occasion when Father Bob Maguire was anointing a dying person in hospital, he sensed the grieving family’s discomfort. He cleverly broke up the atmosphere by saying “Oiled and greased, ready for takeoff’’. I empathise with the Almighty as (s)he copes with Bob Maguire and Barry Humphries storming into paradise and spreading celestial chaos. Heaven has changed for all eternity.

Father Kevin Burke, Sandringham, Vic

Like father, like son. Two things in The Australian on Monday brought a chuckle and a tear to my eye. One was the late Bill Leak’s portrait of Sir Les Patterson on page 2. The other was Johannes Leak’s cartoon of Dame Edna at the Pearly Gates.

Bob Reid, Fig Tree Pocket, Qld

Let’s hope there’s an afterlife that sees the mighty Barry Humphries and his mate, the mighty Bill Leak, guffawing at the spot-on cartoon portrait of Dame Edna composed by Bill’s son, Johannes.

Helen Jackson, Higgins, ACT

I caught a gladioli thrown by Barry Humphries from the stage of an Adelaide theatre many years ago. Yes, Trent Dalton (“Big, beautiful secret”, 24/4), he was clearly the nation’s greatest showman.

Peter Searcy, Mile End, SA

Barry Humphries’ satire could be cutting and he was sometimes outrageous. But he was fantastically funny without profanities, and many modern comedians could learn a lot from him. He will be greatly missed.

Roslyn Phillips, Tea Tree Gully, SA

Perhaps the Barry Award associated with the Melbourne International Comedy Festival could be reinstated by a committee of friends and supportive comedians joining together to choose the best comedian of the festival. All unofficial, of course. Something like the Bald Archies are to the Archibald Prize.

Barry Lamb, Heidelberg West, Vic

Dame Edna? That’s the dilemma of the $5 note sorted.

Susie Holt, South Yarra, Vic

Barry Humphries is a great loss and so is the Australian belief that having a joke and a laugh is good for the soul. Another great loss are the Australian prisoners of the Japanese lost in the sinking of the Montevideo Maru. Wonderful Australians of courage who are forever lost.

Peter Deans, Katherine, NT

News flash to Defence Minister Richard Marles. You’ll need baseload power to build ships. Sunshine, breezes and batteries just won’t cut it.

Val Spencer, Eli Waters, Qld