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Lynn Johnston, Creator of For Better or For Worse, Part One

© Susanna McLeod

Lynn Johnston leads a double life. On one hand, she has an authentic life as a wife and mother. She has her work as one of the top cartoonists of our time. She lives in the small town of Corbeil, in Northern Ontario with her husband, Rod. He is a dentist, a pilot and model railroader and he has a not-so-miniature train set that chugs around their yard. They have two grown children, Aaron and Katie.

But then, Lynn Johnston has another life, one of complex fantasy.

The comic strip, For Better or For Worse, has allowed Lynn the freedom to create a second family. Elly and John Patterson and their three kids, Michael, Elizabeth and April, (plus boisterous pets), live in a detailed imaginary town. It is appointed with well-rounded characters of relatives, friends and strangers. Johnston's nameless town is placed somewhere in southern Ontario, with schools, businesses, parks and rivers. The setting is far enough from the bigger cities that characters Michael and Elizabeth must move to attend university.

Lynn Johnston has made her fantasy world come alive in the comics pages since 1979, drawing readers into realistic human stories that we can all relate to, no matter what age. Her cartoon may bring laughter or tears to the eyes of her fans and always brings them back for more. Let's take a look at her exceptional cartooning career.

On May 28, 1947, Lynn was born in Collingwood, Ontario to parents Merv and Ursula Ridgway. Her father was a watchmaker/jeweler, and her mother a calligrapher and bookkeeper, and both were artistic and creative. Unfortunately, Lynn's childhood often took unpleasant turns when her mother was angry. Lynn has one younger brother who is a professional trumpet musician. The Ridgway family moved to Vancouver, British Columbia when Lynn was three years old. She always loved to draw and doodle, right from the start. She attended the Vancouver School of Art for three years, with a goal of working in animation. When finished school, Lynn found a job in the ink and paint section of an animation studio. She married a television cameraman and the couple moved to Hamilton, Ontario in 1969.

There was no animation work available in Hamilton, so Lynn began work as a medical artist at McMaster University. She said she "gained a reverence for life and the human body that only one in a hospital environment can achieve." *(1) During her pregnancy in 1972, she left her job to become a freelance designer at home.

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