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Sunday, July 20, 2014

Lynn's Comments: Doug and Ina Harrison lived on Trout Lake--about a mile down the road from us, close to my in-laws. Ruth and Ina were great friends. The Harrisons' dock was a favourite place for these ladies to sit and have tea, and our kids were welcome, too. Katie and Aaron spent hours on the Harrisons' dock, swimming and fishing, and enjoying the company of Doug and Ina, who became "adopted grandparents." This strip was to thank them for their kind generosity. I gave them the original.

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.

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.

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Lynn's Comments: I did this Sunday page after I was squeezed in half by a sadistically designed lawn chair. I brought the chair into my studio and drew the exact position it was in when it maimed me. I felt relieved and vindicated even before the art was published. This job came with unlimited and curative benefits. I was jubilant when I took the chair to the dump.

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Lynn's Comments: My kids liked most vegetables, so eating wasn't a problem. A cartoonist who draws on family stuff for gags, however, needs the gag reflex of unpalatable foods--and the thing about peas is, they're funny! Squash is funny because of the name, and of course the goofy shapes it can come in. A head of lettuce can be funny, I guess, but peas are made for comedy. They are hard to get on a fork, look like frog parts, and roll onto the floor easily. They are easy to spit, mash, or fling off a spoon. They can be bright or bilious green depending on how "left over" they are, and dogs, for the most part, hate them. Anything a dog won't eat is usually spurned by kids.

I have done several gags about this maligned dicotyledon, and the surprising result is that I have had no complaints. I thought there was a reader out there for every complaint possible, but so far I have heard nothing from pea fanciers, associations, or "protect the pea" movements, and I'm curious; now that I have mentioned this lack of interest, will I finally hear from these people?

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Lynn's Comments: My granddaughter is, at the time of this writing, two and a half years old. She is active and curious and constantly on the go. Her mom, dad and I read to her, play with her, and try to answer all her questions. She is a joy, but still, we look forward to the day she'll be able to go to kindergarten. Not because she is too much to handle; she is just so ready to learn!

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Lynn's Comments: I wanted to explore the sense of loss we all share when a good friend moves away. I think this must be harder for children to deal with. In our case, we were the ones who left and Aaron's friends were sad to see him go. It wasn't until we had settled in our new house and the excitement of moving was over, that he began to feel the loss as well.

Friday, August 29, 2014

Lynn's Comments: In Lynn Lake, we would walk the kids to school. When we moved to rural Ontario, even though Kate's school was close by, the bus would pick her up and drop her off at our mailbox everyday. Aaron, too, caught the school bus, and because he went to a different school, he had to transfer to another bus in town. For both of them, it was a whole new experience, in a very different place.

Saturday, August 30, 2014

Lynn's Comments: There were times when well meaning friends, knowing I was at home, would drop in during the day. I would come up from the studio, long enough to be polite--sometimes I'd put on the coffee, but I was on a deadline and every minute spent away from the drafting table was time I'd have to make up later on. One woman was very unhappy when I told her I had to work. Having two kids of her own, she looked at me angrily and snapped "So do I!" When I look back at all the comics I did while juggling family, food, chores, business trips, volunteer stuff and just plain living, I wonder how I managed to do it all.

Sunday, August 31, 2014

Lynn's Comments: Listening to Katie talking to her dollies, I realized I was hearing myself. Her choice of words, her phrases, inflections, and body language, had all been learned from me. I'm sure I was parroting my mother when I directed my children, and now that I'm a grandmother, I'm waiting to hear if my granddaughter will talk the way HER mother does!

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Lynn's Comments: I once admitted to a male friend (not a partner) that I had told a best friend some very intimate personal things--and he said that guys often tell their best friends intimate personal stuff too. I guess it depends on who the people are, what the information is, and why it had to be shared. I refuse to feel guilty about spilling my guts to a trusted friend. Sometimes, when the dam is about to break--you go to someone with a life raft!

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Lynn's Comments: When I was about 10, I watched as a family moved into one of the houses where we lived on 5th Street. My friend Evelyn's father was watching too and when he saw the big assortment of tools the new guy had, he said "I don't know this guy, but I like him already!" Both men were mechanics--who looked after their stuff.

Monday, September 8, 2014

Lynn's Comments: The Enjos provided both Elizabeth and Michael with friends to play with--I wanted the whole family to integrate with the Pattersons. This is always the hope when new folks move into the neighbourhood, and I could make it happen in the strip!

Friday, September 12, 2014

Lynn's Comments: After this strip ran, I had all kinds of letters from folks with similar backgrounds wondering where our family had originated and if there was any connection. I wished at the time we could have met some long-lost cousins, but sadly, that didn't happen.