Keep the Home Fries Burning: Browse The Strips

Monday, June 30, 2014

Lynn's Comments: "Train of blank" was not mine. Somebody said it somewhere years ago and it stuck in my head. What a great line!--Isn't it strange that you can remember some insignificant little line like this, but forget your licence plate, your passwords and your PIN?

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Lynn's Comments: After I sent this strip to the syndicate, I felt badly for having used Cathy Guisewite's exclamation. I think this is the only time I ever used the word "Gakkk!" Years later, after many crazy thought-up sounds: bork, flubble, snooof, snerkk, and so on, I received a letter from someone saying I had stolen Don Martin's words. Don did a fabulous spread for Mad Magazine, and his use of funny sound effects was legendary. I wrote back to say that I knew Don's work, and although my sound effects might be similar, I tried hard not to copy anything of Don's. I mean, how many ways can you depict a scream? In deference to Cathy, I have always spelled "AAAAAUGH!" that way--so that she could have "AAAAKKKK!" all to herself.

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Lynn's Comments: This strip was done well before the advent of electronic readers and iPads. It's interesting to see that we continue to wonder how the printed page will survive, and if books as we know them will still be the pleasure they once were--and the best gift ever.

Friday, July 4, 2014

Lynn's Comments: One of the most effective advertising gimmicks ever was the "jingle." My chums and I memorized all of them, and today, I can still sing the bluesy torch song that extolled the goodness of Du Maurier cigarettes. I'm trying to think of a modern equivalent--anyone heard a really good jingle lately?

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Lynn's Comments: This scenario was actually from a childhood memory. My brother and I did make a television out of a cardboard box, and we did try to put on a show for our friends. What happened was, our dad, who was a born entertainer, took over the box and put on the show for us. He should have been in vaudeville--but, was born a few years too late.

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Lynn's Comments: In the Canadian north, you learn to live with flies. Legends, stories, and songs have been written about them, and no amount of spray will protect you when the season is nigh. I used to complain about the mosquitoes on the west coast, but the black flies, deer flies, and mosquitoes in northern Ontario make wimps out of them. On the GOOD side, the country here is beautiful!

Friday, July 11, 2014

Lynn's Comments: Badminton was one of the games our family really enjoyed. The net would go up in the back yard as soon as spring arrived, and by the end of summer, the grass around it was worn to the ground. Our house was built on a hill, so the front looked like a bungalow, but the back was a two-storey affair, and the roof towered high above the makeshift court. Even so, we managed to whack birdies onto the roof, and Dad, ever mindful of the cost of new ones, risked his life annually to get them down.

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Lynn's Comments: The Canadian spelling of racquet was always in question. Since the majority of readers were American, my editors suggested I use the American spelling. I refused. When I signed the contract with the syndicate, it was with the understanding that I could keep everything Canadian, including the spelling of words like racquet, cheque, colour, and neighbour. I said I'd be happy to let individual editors change the spelling if it bothered them--and a few did. Most, however, kept the spelling exactly as written, and I even got letters from readers who loved the fact that they were reading work done by a Canadian!

Monday, July 14, 2014

Lynn's Comments: I remember thinking I could dig down to China. I really believed I would come out the other side of the earth to find a completely new civilization. I also believed our beach blanket could fly--as long as I was wrapped up in it and couldn't see. My imagination was so strong, I could feel the wind come under the blanket and lift it up. Because of these memories, I can appreciate the daydreams my granddaughter has. I watch with fascination, hoping she doesn't lose this wonderful gift too fast.

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Lynn's Comments: Johnny Hart (Wizard of Id and B.C.) was a wonderful cartoonist and a great friend. One of my favourite cartoons shows BC hitchhiking. Rock after rock rolls by, but the riders won't pick him up. Then the "camera" pulls back to show a sign slightly ahead of where B.C. is standing. It says, "CAUTION. DIP IN THE ROAD."

Friday, July 18, 2014

Lynn's Comments: Another cartoon I remember, was a panel in the New Yorker: Two couples are standing in front of a large, elaborate fireplace after having had an extravagant dinner in one of their homes. The caption read something like, "Dinner for dinner, lunch for lunch--.we're even." This really appealed to me. When someone asks me to dinner, I am immediately wondering when and how to reciprocate!

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Lynn's Comments: Because my brother was so closely tied to the character, Uncle Phil, this comic strip relationship had to be carefully choreographed. I had to be careful not to write about anything that was true to life. When I introduced Georgia (a name I used as a nod to a friend from art school) Alan was single. Within a few weeks of Georgia's appearance in FBorFW, he met Joan, who looked a lot like the "girlfriend" character I had drawn.

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Lynn's Comments: As time went by, Joan and Alan became an item and then a couple--as did the characters Phil and Georgia in the strip. One day, Alan called to say that he and Joan were getting serious and that I could not have Phil and Georgia get engaged until he was ready to propose to Joan. The strip, inadvertently, had become a window into their lives.

Friday, July 25, 2014

Lynn's Comments: Looking back on this storyline gives me great pleasure. The strong friendship between Mike and Lawrence binds these two boys for 30 years, and yet, Lawrence is gay. This was something even I didn't know until Lawrence was in his late teens.

Monday, July 28, 2014

Lynn's Comments: This is another example of how a common turn of phrase like, "on and off relationship," can lead to a punch line. Unfortunately, colloquial expressions don't translate well, so my work was more popular in English language newspapers. This can be a problem for the syndicates' sales reps, so some cartoonists make their dialogue less complicated. Jim Davis, for example, makes sure that Garfield is easily translatable!

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Lynn's Comments: Having Connie and Lawrence move away was a big decision. Connie was a regular character--Elly's best friend, in fact. In losing these two familiar faces, I would have to rethink the dynamics of the neighbourhood, and create a new group of friends. I did this because I was juggling too many characters. I felt my work was getting stale and I needed a challenge.

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Lynn's Comments: I chose Thunder Bay as Connie's new destination because it's a nice place to live and a long way from southern Ontario, where Elly lived. I had also received an honorary degree from Thunder Bay's Lakehead University a short while before writing this story, and the city was still strong in my mind. I became a doctor of letters. WOW! After receiving the award, I called my mother to tell her, and she replied, "A doctor of letters? That's ridiculous! You haven't written to me for MONTHS!"

Friday, August 1, 2014

Lynn's Comments: This sentiment reflects the feeling I had when my women friends moved away from Lynn Lake. In this small town, good friends kept me sane. When my friend Nancy Lawn left for Edmonton, I told her I was happy for her, and I really was! I congratulated her husband on his promotion and transfer, and I earnestly wished them well. As they drove away, I waved and smiled until their car disappeared, and then I cried. I cried for all the good times we could have had. I cried for me.