Ghostbusters Legend “Giving the Finger” To Cancer

I met Michael Gross about four years ago at a favorite local sushi hangout in Oceanside California. I took a seat at the sushi bar and he was sitting right next to me. I did not know who he was, but our mutual friend and sushi chef, Davin Waite, made the introduction.

The conversation started easily enough as the man has a lot of compelling things to say. Not really conversation, as I would much rather do all the listening. I can't remember the first hook, maybe the mention of his involvement with National Lampoon magazine. Maybe it was that he worked for John Lennon and Yoko Ono as their personal art director for a year. Or that he was the driving force behind one of my favorite films from my teenage years, Heavy Metal, where he served as art director and associate producer.

Michael was the associate producer and creative mind behind the blockbusters Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II, and is responsible for the design of the globally recognizable “no ghosts" logo. This alone has earned him international acclaim.

Other credits include Twins, Beethoven, Beethoven's Second, Legal Eagles, Kindergarten Cop, and Dave, (all as producer or executive producer, as well as second unit director in many cases).

Prior to embarking on his legendary film career, he took over as art director for the fledgling National Lampoon Magazine shortly after its founding in 1970 and churned out masterpiece after masterpiece until he left in 1975 when most of the main players like Doug Kenney and Henry Beard moved on as well. Michael is credited with changing the art of the magazine from a wacky, comic book to a much more straightforward approach, heightening the satire, and the magazine became a mega-success as a result.

He asked if I had read the book Drunk, Stoned, Brilliant, Dead by Rick Meyerowitz, an incredible retrospective on the people that made National Lampoon. I hadn't. He said “Get it. I'll sign it as there is a chapter about me in it." After failing to find it in a bookstore my wife surprised me with it for a birthday present. The very next day I brought it to the restaurant. I just knew that since I had the book with me he would show up. He walked in 30 seconds after I sat down. He signed and then shared more stories. Good stories. As Meyerowitz' title suggests, much of the drunk, stoned brilliance is dead. Few resources remain and when they are gone, they are gone forever.

We crossed paths at the restaurant numerous times since then and stayed in touch through Facebook. A few months back we got the terrible news that Michael's days were numbered as terminal cancer had taken hold of his body. Though one can say his legacy in film, print and the art world will live on forever, he is not quite done yet. He created a foundation called Flip Cancer where artists are encouraged to contribute artwork that literally “flips the bird" at cancer. Some may call it rude. They call it “Rude with a Cause." To quote Michael:

“I have several kinds of cancer (now terminal). I feel like screaming to the heavens some days, “Why me? The answer is “Welcome to the club, what ya gonna do?" As an artist I only knew one way to shout back…through my art. Before long other artists joined me in my rant, hence this site/exhibit/charity. We won't be a BIG influence in the battle, but we WILL be visible. Imagine a gallery show of just “flipping" HA..fun eh? yet important in the fight. Join us artists by making a contribution to our cause. God bless you in advance."

The first exhibit occurred November 7, 2014 in San Diego and was a big hit. The plan is to keep the momentum going getting more artists from around the country to contribute works that can be exhibited locally or on the web and sold to generate revenue to give back to cancer causes they feel are making a difference.

Michael has called this exhibit his last public appearance and as a result a number of his friends and colleagues travelled to California to attend the event and spend the weekend with him. I was lucky enough to have attended dinner Saturday night at, where else? Davin Waite's Wrench & Rodent Seabasstropub in Oceanside, our favorite sushi, back to where it all began for me. I thank you Davin for the introduction. I have been enriched by knowing Michael, even just as an acquaintance. What he has accomplished matters to millions of others around the world, though he doesn't seem to believe that, and through the artist community, his Flip Cancer legacy will impact lives for years to come.

Saying goodbye after dinner wasn't enough, so I sat down to write. If you have anything you would like to write to him, please comment below.

To learn more about Flip Cancer, please visit:

Flip Cancer