A dark hour for Zeg‏

As regular readers here know, I a great fan of conservative Australian cartoonist  ZEG.  I like his drawing and I like his thinking.  Below is an email he has sent to people he knows.  Despite his illness he has still managed to draw a cartoon to go with it.  I certainly would be grieved to lose him, his talent and his grateful heart -- JR

Please forgive me if I may have already told you the following news. You see the anti seizure drugs that I have been on for the last 5 months, plus almost daily absence seizures, have created for me a short term memory that lasts me about 7 days. It is likely that in a few days I will probably not remember sending this email to you. I guess too that my memory of this email will determine the true success of the Procedure that I am about to undertake.

I have serious medical emergency at present. I have an Aneurysm and AVM (Arteriovenous malformation) deep within my brain and it is so deep that it is almost inoperable.  I can expect a very risky 8 hour operation to take place this Thursday at The Royal North Shore Hospital, thus I won't be able to communicate with you after that time,  let alone draw anything for probably a month. That's only assuming firstly that I survive the procedure and or if I'm still have the physical/mental ability to do so.

 My surgeon has not beat around the bush on this issue with me and neither shall I with you. The list of permanent damage as a result of the surgery is quite long. Everything from paralysis to blindness, from cognitive recognition disorder to personality disorder and several other dysfunctions. The alternative to doing nothing is pretty obvious thus I have not reluctantly agreed to the operation.

 Obviously it's a frightening time personally and for my family BUT confidence is still very high due to the incredible skill of my neurosurgeon. I am correctly informed that Dr Assaad is the best in the country when dealing with this type of surgery. Plus my strong will to survive and finish the work I must yet do here, so please don't write me off as I am certainly not planning on going anywhere yet!

 When I am back online so to speak, this 48 year old father of three of the most wonderful children a man could ever hope for, Danica, Marko & Georgia,  intends to continue a purposeful life of being a good Father and partner to my Bridget, as well my goal of being an editorial cartoonist full-time. To continued the fight for freedom, justice, fairness and to preserve and make better our way of life for future generations.

My beautiful, loving fiance, Bridget Cornwell has full access to my email & Facebook account and your names in particular and she will be keeping you all up to date with any news, good or bad.

Now I know it sounds gloomy and maybe a little self indulgent too,  but really the risk here is not to be underestimated and that is why I have decided to let you all know about it whilst I still can. It's a blessing that I am now able to thank you all, friends and followers of my work alike, for your love, support, kindness, generosity, guidance and inspiration throughout the years. I wish I had the time to individually address this email to you each but please know that I have selected YOU from all of my friends with this personal note and I am sure that you know and remember the special connection that we have.  I consider everyone of you a Super Star in your own way and I am blessed & the better for having shared a connection with you in whatever way that has been. I value the great times and the sad times we have had, the great chats and interactions between you all.

I'll sign off for now and I truly hope to speak with you all again soon. If I cannot do that then please know this, I believe in the after life and I will always be around in some way. Please continue your fight for freedom and democracy. Always stand up and be heard and never be afraid of political correctness when it comes to stating your mind. Always challenge the Cultural Marxists and any Ethos or Ideology that would threaten your way of life and our wonderful Australia and its traditions. Preserve our unique culture and our language. Keep our borders strong.

Remember always that we inherited this great gift of freedom and democracy from the generations before us -- thus it is our responsibility, NAY,  our duty to ensure that the next and future generations inherit not only what we have now but an even better and more secure freedom. I don't need to remind you that we live in troubled times and that our enemies are within and without so please be vigilant and take care..

It would be remiss of me to not single out just a few of you but one particular man that I should be at the top of my list of people to thank for their support, encouragement, respect and love and that man has already crossed over. I bet you know who I am talking about.....The Late and always Great,STAN ZEMANEK.

Stanley Zemanek is responsible for the spark that lit the way forward for me and I just cannot see how I would be a Cartoonist today if not for him. If not for Stan, I would not have met most of you, such great friends and supporters as, Prof. John Ray, Keith Windschuttle, Roger Fletcher, Ron Manners, Gina Rinehart, John & Peter Brennan & Glenn Daniel, to name a few.

Stan also nurtured my passion for good Talk Back Radio, which in turn led me to such great friendships with the likes of Jason Morrison, Marcella Zemanek, Prue Macsween, Mark Kennedy, Mike Williams and Jim Ball.

I would also like to thank the support of those of the 4th Estate (Print Division) who actually bothered to not only attempt to help me but who actually replied to my emails in the first place. Janet Albrechtsen, Miranda Devine, Piers Akerman, Rebecca Weisser and Andrew Bolt.

Believe it or not, there are some mighty fine Politicians out there also, who do give a stuff about freedom of speech and in no particular order, I would like to commend Cory Bernardi, Mathias Cormann, George Christensen and Dominic Perrottet. These gentlemen of Parliament, have all done a great deal of service to me by expanding my profile in the media & social media marketplace, in  what is basically a Leftist Stronghold.

 I can't close without mentioning the trustworthy, longterm and the constant supportive friendship of Steve "NOZ" Panozzo (my cartoonist brother in arms), as well as my constant great companions throughout my Security Career, Mark Paton and Tony Tsitsos. During my short time within the NSW Police Force, two men will always remain my best of friends, Paul Smith & Ken Burrows.

Please don't feel left out if I haven't mentioned your name. I just don't have enough time right now and in fact writing is a very tiresome task for me at present. I have been working on this letter for about 2 hours. Just know that if you received this email that you are one of the few that I have singled out in my mind as the most special of all of my good friends, due to your support, kindness & generosity to me and my family.

Please LOVE EACH OTHER because in the end that's all that we really have.