« A note from Lynn about Mutts | Main | Wednesday November 21, 2007 »

I have always been encouraged by the men in your strip! John is a wonderful father and steady, loving husband/good provider- he's so truly human I think my best friend really did marry him (except HER husband is nowhere near as humourous) Michael is a kind-hearted idealist-dedicated to his art-who is also proving to have high standards for himself and is following his fathers example as a loving husband and father.
Gordon has overcome a hugely abusive childhood w. honor and perseverance- also a good husband and father with a successful business thru his own hard work and honesty.
Anthony is a sensitive soul who married the wrong gal and has honorably made his daughter his priority as well as a successful career for himself (and anyone who can carry "true love" in his heart for a woman for all the years he has for Liz is a kind hearted romantic if ever there was one!) Lawrence is strong, healthy, at peace,committed to a partner and also independant and successful.
Ellies' male relatives all seem to be honorable, hard working, loyal, loving, creative, intelligent guys with common sense and senses of humour! What more could anyone ask for? Of course there have been a few "villians" over the years- that's life, too! There ARE rotters out there AND in the strip - both male and female.Michaels mother-in-law is particularly hard to take!And the thief at Ellies' shop was a female employee!
The men portrayed in the strip are no Better or Worse than the women! They ALL have faults, whine on occasion, are sometimes self-centered and grumpy. In other words Lynn has managed to portray BOTH sexes exactly as they are- HUMAN- with all that implies.

Honor, Bothell WA

Jim was always sensitive to how Marion was feeling. When she left for the hospital for the last time, he sat on her side of the bed for a time, because it was still warm.
When April was born, John's staff had to twist his arm to get him to stay in town for the night. Then, he braved the worst weather to get home, being berated by the policeman who took him the last mile.
When Liz was attacked at work, Anthony, the most peaceful man in the world, leaped to her defence. A man who hated violence in life was ready to pound a man into submission. (I'll grant you, he went from that to asking Liz to wait for him, but I put that to the heat of the moment.) Is that weak?
Then you have Gordon. He came from a violent home, worked hard to become a success in business and a very good father to his two children.
The men of the Patterson world have faults. The same faults that I have. They are also very strong, bending but not breaking. From the aging Jim Richards to the young Gerald, who has accepted that things will change between him and April, your characters are all man.

Joe D, Prescott ON

I am also one of the folks who discovered Lynns' work in the 1st little books about pregnancy - I was pregnant w. my only daughter at the time. I have read every strip and purchased every book since!
My daughters' father & I divorced when she was very small and over the years she and I both found comfort in the "Regular/Normal" life depicted in Lynns' strip. Something we longed for on occasion but was not in our particular "life stream" for those years.
It was just plain eerie at times when Lynns'thoughts and scenarios seemed pulled right out of my own head/life ! (chasing a small Lizzie who was wearing only boots and a red umbrella down the street in her robe was an actual event in my own life before she printed it--!!) I began to check for spying devices after a while ;-) My daughter has now been married to a wonderful man for 8 yrs. and has a 6 yr. old boy and 3 yr old girl -
She also took every copy of all the FBorFW books we had with her when she married. She says FBorFW was her "real life" childhood to which she turned every time it felt odd to be an only child of a single mother ( who is also an only child!) So many of my own ideals and ideas about children and mothering and family/ body image/ having your "own" life while being Mother Earth ect. were so exactly in sync w. mine I have often thought I must somehow commune w. Lynn while we're sleeping-- visiting some astral coffee shop or such like (lol)!! I'm sure I'm not the only reader out here who feels these things!
Most of all I wish to take the opportunity to thank Lynn for giving me and my beloved and now happily married daughter our "touch point" for the growing up years.
Thanks Lynn- being able to read your strip made our life better.
Some days it was only bearable because you made us see ourselves and made us both laugh out loud.
I'm 58 in Feb. and will be reading your work as long as you continue to write it-- then I intend to add a codicil to my will that I will be buried w. every book printed up to the point of my demise ;-)
Blessings to you and all your family- breathe they air or ink!

Nancee I, Seattle WA

Whew!! Was concerned that the hybrid comic was due to health reasons. Wonderful to learn it is not so.

Very clever way to reintroduce the characters from an earlier time. The laughs are still there. Contrasting the adults with their childhood is fun. Beautiful blending which relates to real family experiences. I am enjoying it.

Sincerely,

Regina C, NC

Just been catching up on the coffee talk and wanted to express my own feelings on this beloved strip. My favorite aspect of this comic strip is that the characters age. Time goes on and we learn to find the humor in the new world around us or cry from the inital fear of change but the Pattersons have been there with us, sometimes showing us the way and sometimes showing us we aren't alone.
I lost interest in comics such as "Peanuts" and "Family Circus" long ago because there is only so much new stuff you can do with young children. And it really isn't new stuff, just recycled. "For Better or For Worse" is always going somewhere new and different with its characters, making them more identifible to their readers. They have become a really good friend to us. We've weathered the storms of life together. I think that's why we have been so vocal about the changes. It's fine to reminisce but if frozen in time it will be no different than any of the other hundreds of comics out there. Its specialness is its uniqueness, and that will be gone. It feels like an old friend is going away. If there where any way to save it, would you please?

Vickie K, Oklahoma City OK

Dear Lynn & Co:

I have been a reader since I was the beginning and I admit I was pretty anxious at the whole hybrid concept, but I am really coming to enjoy seeing these older strips through my "older" eyes. I am a much different person now than I was then so in a way, they are all "new" to me! In a way, it's cool to see little Mike and Lizzie and know how they turned out.

PS the Tupperware party was cool! My friend used to sell that in the '80's! It's not just a Canadian thing, you know!!

Koren M, Modesto CA

About Liz and Anthony: Liz deserves so much better than a pale retread of her older brother's romance.

People keep saying that Anthony is such a great guy, but he's not. He married foolishly to someone who clearly didn't share his values and mooned over his lost romance with Liz the entire time. That is not "trying to make your marriage work." That is making a colossal life mistake and being too immature/self-centered/idiotic/afraid to own up to it. Bringing a child into such a charged environment was unforgivable.

Liz is bright, dynamic, young and talented. She deserves someone who appreciates her for who she is, not someone who is looking for someone to help him clean up the wreck he's made of his life.

Unless Anthony can demonstrate that he's learned anything from the mistakes that he's made, Liz should stop and think-- HARD-- about designating herself the clean-up crew. And the fact that she has been so unsure is the clearest sign that it isn't right. For relationships that work, getting married is the easiest decision that you will ever make. If you have to agonize over whether or not to do it, DON'T!

Sharon, Charlottesville VA

Much as I enjoy your reminiscences, which so effectively mirror people's real-life familial tendencies (one hopes), I'd love to read a current story line now and again, if only once a month. You are the only strip that faithfully partners artwork with real-life issues facing families today. You're also a master storyteller, and I wasn't surprised to read the noun "fix" in more than one posting. You're invariably the first item my husband and I look at in the paper, if the truth be told. Of course, you, too, are entitled to take some time off as you near retirement. So however you proceed, thanks for sparking so many rich discussions at our house! Nothing ever felt trivial, and you breathed fresh life into classic scenarios where stress surfaces: the wedding, selling a business, an illness (your treatment of Grandpa Jim is masterful), and so on. It had become like phoning a dear friend to find out what was going on, when we opened the paper. Best wishes for continued success and happiness!

Mary F, Westport Point, Masschusetts

At first, the simplistic artwork of the early strips bothered me, along with the low key day to day themes. I missed the drama of the grown-up Pattersons, and then I realized that's the way life is. The older we get and the more we learn, the more "layers" there are to us. We live and we learn and refine the "artwork" in our lives until our time is up, and then someone new starts the process all over again.

Julie, California

When you started your comic strip I didn't think your subject choices had a place in the comic world. I was mistaken. I think your strips have probably helped a lot of us muddle through our lives knowing we were not the only ones experiencing these ups & downs. I especially liked your strip on November 11, 2007. I guess comics aren't only for belly laughs but for touching people!

Carolyn P, Phoenix AZ