Author Archives: fborfwnews

Frank Pauer’s Interview with Lynn about Len Norris

Frank Pauer asked Lynn for her remembrance of meeting her first cartoonist. This article was meant to be published in the National Cartoonist Society’s “The Cartoon!st” magazine, but Covid prevented its publication. Frank was kind enough to let us print it here.

It’s a PDF file, so you may find it easiest to read if you download it here. Otherwise you can click the small version to enlarge it:

The Top 10 Painful Puns in FBorFW

You’ve likely noticed over the years that Lynn can’t resist a good groaner. Here’s what she says about her predilection for punning:

Puns were a favourite punch line. They were untranslatable, however, which made it difficult for my syndicate to sell my work to non-English-speaking countries. I knew that word play limited my sales, but if I could come up with a good pun, I figured it was worth the loss.

A few of the best (worst?) puns in FBorFW:

1. The Smiths’ Kid

A strip with really bad pun about a baby belonging to Mel and Colleen: my Mel and Colleen's baby

We fear this one may be lost in the mists of time someday, but for now you can see Ella Fitzgerald performing “Come To Me, My Melancholy Baby”, written in 1912, on YouTube.

2. An Ongoing Struggle

Michael keeps saying "just a sec" to Elly until she gets mad. Battle of the secses

We trust this one needs no explanation.

3. Big City Accessories

Elizabeth asks John what poise is, and he says it's how a New Yorker says purse.

A nod to our New York readers!

4. Cold Comfort (Food)

Elly and Elizabeth order hot dogs at the cold arena, but the buns are frozen.

This one is just funny because it’s relatable.

5. Elly Goes on a Tangent

Elly gets slide-tracked when she's trying to clean the crawlspace but discovers a box of slides.
Sometimes the puns are obvious; the jury is out on whether the easy ones are better or worse than the inspired ones (see below).

6. A Holiday Favourite

The family glories in excesses after Christmas dinner. Lizzie thinks it's "glory in excelsis".

We have to hand it to Lynn; this one’s pretty clever. We still groaned, though.

7. John Can’t Resist

John wooden know what trees think about.
John holds the title for the cleverest puns in the family, we think. And the worst.

8. It Runs In the Family

Deanna tries to fax a complaint letter about their washing machine, but Michael says if the machine ain't broke, don't fax it.

Michael inherited the gene, it seems.

9. It’s Intergenerational

Grandpa Jim just couldn’t help himself.

10. Even Gordon Isn’t Immune

Gordon, at his gas bar, says you can fuel some of the people some of the time, but you can't fuel all of the people all of the time.

We wonder if he was saving that one up, or if he thought of it on the spot.

Bonus: This One Was Too Clever to Leave Out


Oh Lynn, you’re so right.

Gramma Buns

We’ve been collecting recipes from Lynn’s family’s collection, for your enjoyment.

You can find the whole recipe series here. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

2 tbsp. yeast
1 ¼ cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 egg
½ cup margarine, softened
1 tsp salt
¼ cup white sugar
4 cups flour

Instructions

The easiest way to mix this dough is with a breadmaker but you could also use a standing kitchen mixer or you could do it all by hand if you’re brave enough.

  1. Add yeast to the warm water along with a teaspoon of sugar to the bottom of your breadmaker pan and stir to dissolve (breadmaker yeast and granulated yeasts do not need to be pre-soaked and can be added dry).
  2. Place the rest of the ingredients in the bread maker pan. Set for the dough cycle and start. It may be necessary to add a little extra water or flour in the first few minutes to adjust the consistency of the dough. It should form a pliable, but not sticky, ball as it mixes.
  3. Once the cycle is complete, remove the pan full of dough from the machine.
  4. Grease two small sheets or one large one.
  5. Punch the dough down and give it a brief kneading. Cut pieces the size of ping pong balls from the dough. Shape these into balls, stretching the top until it is smooth and round. Place on a greased baking sheet, two inches apart. Cover with a clean tea towel, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk (about 1 hour in most kitchens). Bake 24 minutes in a preheated 350° oven, or until the tops are golden brown. Brush tops lightly with melted margarine while hot.

These freeze well. Be sure to wait until they are fully cooled before bagging for the freezer, or the crust may end up soggy.

New Website Feature: Lynn’s Love for Animation

John and April pointing and laughing at images of the dogs on a computer screen.

John and April pointing and laughing at images of the dogs on a computer screen.

We’ve just added a new page to our site! Learn about how Lynn’s enthusiasm for animation shaped her career.

Sandy’s Simple Strawberry Almond Pie

We’ve been collecting recipes from Lynn’s family’s collection, for your enjoyment.

You can find the whole recipe series here. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup melted butter
1 tbsp. granulated sugar (or brown sugar is yummy too!)
1 container (250g) of light or regular cream cheese at room temperature
¼ cup sugar
½ tsp of vanilla
½ – 1 tsp of almond extract or amaretto (depending on how much you like almond flavour!)
4 cups (or more) of fresh, sliced strawberries (yummy with fresh raspberries, too!)
¼ cup seedless strawberry jam
sliced almonds for garnish

Instructions

  1. Mix together graham cracker crumbs, butter, and sugar and pat, evenly into a lightly greased pie plate.
  2. Bake at 10 min. at 350°. Or, you can cheat, and use a pre-made graham cracker pie crust.
  3. Cream together cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and almond extract. Once pie crust has cooled, gently spread mixture over bottom of crust.
  4. Make a pretty arrangement with the strawberries on the top of the filling. Mix jam until it is smooth and drizzle over berries.
  5. Garnish around the edge with sliced almonds.
  6. Place pie in fridge for about four hours before serving.