Ronald James Letchford

Updated:
Ronald James Letchford
Home:
Great Britain
Born:
1935
Died:
2014

The late Ron Letchford had a history with British MAD since 1969, working with various concerns who handled MAD in the UK. His capabilities lay in the business, production and distribution areas.

When Warner dropped the books and magazines arm of its business in favour of video in the late 1970s, Ron pitched for the British MAD licence, as one half of the now-defunct Suron International Publications, which also had links with other international MAD publishers.

Ron elected to ‘double up’, taking on the editorial role himself, in addition to publishing. One of Ron’s plus-points was his success in developing Harry North as a British MAD contributor. (North provided original work for both British and American Mad issues, with the result that results on both sides of the Atlantic would be comparable in terms of professionalism.)

Ron also ‘discovered’ Dave Stoten, whose sometimes loosely-drawn (but otherwise on-the-money) caricatures led him to be a senior designer on TV’s ‘Spitting Image’; and, later, Maurice Mechan (see Maurice’s own page).

Suron wound up when British MAD was passed to a non-publishing concern, then to London Editions who merged with Fleetway; Ron remained as editor throughout (although Fleetway surrendered the licence back to the US).

I personally miss working on MAD with Ron, who was more-than-generous with MAD freebies and would often wine and dine his contributors.

(An interesting side-anecdote is that the Italian Panini Brothers knew Ro n and once asked him to oversee their ‘stickers’ operation in Britain. To Ron's eternal regret, he turned this down, before the idea went into orbit.)


written by David Robinson

Contributions by Ronald James Letchford

Great Britain • MAD Magazine
MAD Magazine #198October 1978
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MAD Magazine #199November 1978
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MAD Magazine #200December 1978
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MAD Magazine #201January 1979
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MAD Magazine #202February 1979
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MAD Magazine #209September 1979
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MAD Magazine #210October 1979
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MAD Magazine #211November 1979
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MAD Magazine #212December 1979
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MAD Magazine #213January 1980
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MAD Magazine #214February 1980
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MAD Magazine #221September 1980
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MAD Magazine #222October 1980
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MAD Magazine #223November 1980
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MAD Magazine #224December 1980
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MAD Magazine #225January 1981
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MAD Magazine #226February 1981
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MAD Magazine #233September 1981
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MAD Magazine #234October 1981
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MAD Magazine #235November 1981
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MAD Magazine #236December 1981
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MAD Magazine #237January 1982
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MAD Magazine #238February 1982
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MAD Magazine #245September 1982
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MAD Magazine #246October 1982
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MAD Magazine #247November 1982
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MAD Magazine #248December 1982
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MAD Magazine #249January 1983
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MAD Magazine #257September 1983
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MAD Magazine #258October 1983
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MAD Magazine #259November 1983
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MAD Magazine #260December 1983
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MAD Magazine #261January 1984
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MAD Magazine #262February 1984
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MAD Magazine #269September 1984
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MAD Magazine #270October 1984
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MAD Magazine #271November 1984
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MAD Magazine #272December 1984
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MAD Magazine #273January 1985
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MAD Magazine #274February 1985
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MAD Magazine #281September 1985
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MAD Magazine #282October 1985
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MAD Magazine #283November 1985
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MAD Magazine #284December 1985
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MAD Magazine #285January 1986
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MAD Magazine #286February 1986
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MAD Magazine #293September 1986
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MAD Magazine #294October 1986
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MAD Magazine #295November 1986
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MAD Magazine #296December 1986
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MAD Magazine #297January 1987
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MAD Magazine #298February 1987
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MAD Magazine #305September 1987
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MAD Magazine #306October 1987
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MAD Magazine #307November 1987
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MAD Magazine #308December 1987
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MAD Magazine #309January 1988
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MAD Magazine #310February 1988
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MAD Magazine #317September 1988
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MAD Magazine #318October 1988
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MAD Magazine #319November 1988
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MAD Magazine #320December 1988
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MAD Magazine #321January 1989
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MAD Magazine #322February 1989
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MAD Magazine #329September 1989
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MAD Magazine #330October 1989
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MAD Magazine #331November 1989
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MAD Magazine #332December 1989
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MAD Magazine #333January 1990
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MAD Magazine #334February 1980
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MAD Magazine #341September 1990
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MAD Magazine #342October 1990
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MAD Magazine #343November 1990
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MAD Magazine #344December 1990
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MAD Magazine #345January 1991
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MAD Magazine #346February 1991
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MAD Magazine #353September 1991
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MAD Magazine #354October 1991
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MAD Magazine #355November 1991
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MAD Magazine #356December 1991
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MAD Magazine #357January 1992
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MAD Magazine #358February 1992
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MAD Magazine #365September 1992
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MAD Magazine #367November 1992
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MAD Magazine #368December 1992
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MAD Magazine #369January 1993
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MAD Magazine #370February 1993
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MAD Magazine #377September 1993
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MAD Magazine #378October 1993
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MAD Magazine #379November 1993
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MAD Magazine #380December 1993
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MAD Magazine #381January 1994
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Great Britain • Super Special
Great Britain • Collector's MAD
Collector's MAD #4October 1993
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Collector's MAD #5December 1993
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Great Britain • Miscellaneous MAD Specials