2007.05.23: May 23, 2007: Headlines: COS - Congo Kinshasa: Journalism: Humor: Cincinnati Enquirer: Beth Duff-Brown writes: 'For Better or For Worse' will live on
Peace Corps Online:
Directory:
Congo - Kinshasa (Zaire):
Special Report: Journalist and Congo Kinshasa RPCV Beth Duff-Brown:
2007.05.23: May 23, 2007: Headlines: COS - Congo Kinshasa: Journalism: Humor: Cincinnati Enquirer: Beth Duff-Brown writes: 'For Better or For Worse' will live on
Beth Duff-Brown writes: 'For Better or For Worse' will live on
An art school student who studied animation, Johnston started off as a medical artist. In 1972, when she was expecting her son, Aaron, her obstetrician challenged her to draw on the ceilings above his examination table. She did some 80 drawings over eight months then published those comics in a book, "David, We're Pregnant." Johnston lives with her husband, a retired dentist, in the small town of Corbeil. She still writes and pencils all her strips by hand, with help from a small staff who work in a studio down the street from her house. Reading one strip may take 10 seconds. But it takes about 55 hours to produce a week of "For Better or For Worse" because of the extensive research. She's working with an elderly man who suffered a stroke, for example, to capture gestures and behavior for Grandpa Jim. Journalist Beth Duff-Brown served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Congo Kinshasa.
Beth Duff-Brown writes: 'For Better or For Worse' will live on
'For Better or For Worse' will live on
BY BETH DUFF-BROWN | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Lynn Johnston, creator of one of the most popular comic strips ever, "For Better or For Worse," had hoped to pack it in this fall. She wanted to travel, deal with some medical problems and take time off without any deadlines as she approached 60.
"After a while, you kind of resent the fact that people think it's easy," Johnston said of the daily slog to come up with new story lines and accurate depictions for her strip about an everyday Canadian family. "You really do have to work hard at this stuff."
Millions of fans who have followed the Patterson family for nearly three decades in some 2,000 North American newspapers and in eight languages in 20 other countries were heartbroken to learn last year that Johnston will end the strip on its 28th anniversary in September.
ADVERTISEMENT
What would happen to Elizabeth, the idealistic daughter of Emily and John? Would the teacher choose an old high school flame, a policeman or a helicopter pilot as her next beau?
And Grandpa Jim, who found new love late in life after the death of his first wife, Marian. Would he regain his speech after surviving a stroke? Would daughter-in-law Deanna come to terms with juggling motherhood, her meddling mom and professional life as a pharmacist?
The Pattersons' delights and dilemmas will be revealed, Johnston assures. And her comic strip will live on.
LIVING, FROZEN IN TIME
Come September, however, her beloved characters will remain frozen in time.
Johnston, 59, decided she enjoyed her staff and respected her fans too much to let the Pattersons walk off into the twilight. So she devised a way in which she believes she can get some long-craved down time while pleasing her fans and distributor, Universal Press Syndicate.
Her characters will remain their current ages and the strip will bounce back and forth between new plot twists and repeats of old strips, a hybrid in the same vein as "Blondie" and "Garfield," yet one that will allow new readers to connect with old characters.
"There will be consistent back and forth to what happened then to what's happening now," said Johnston. "But the characters will not change age; they will remain the age that they were when the story line comes to a full circle in September."
This morphing of time will allow readers to discover, for example, that Michael and Deanna - who now have two children - were once childhood classmates.
"You'll see capsules of Michael's children as they are today, but then you'll see Michael and his wife as they once were," Johnston said. "Many people, especially online, will not have seen any of the original material. So to those who have seen the material, they'll look forward to seeing the time capsule."
Tom Spurgeon, executive editor of the Web site Comics Reporter, said Johnston's strip is so popular, the hybrid is likely to work. He notes some newspaper editors continued to repeat "Peanuts" after creator Charles Schulz died in 2000 and believes Johnston's following is as loyal.
Spurgeon said "For Better or For Worse" has worked so well because Johnston is one of the most "fundamentally sound" cartoonists in the business, with perfect comic timing and an ear for natural dialogue.
An art school student who studied animation, Johnston started off as a medical artist. In 1972, when she was expecting her son, Aaron, her obstetrician challenged her to draw on the ceilings above his examination table. She did some 80 drawings over eight months then published those comics in a book, "David, We're Pregnant."
Johnston lives with her husband, a retired dentist, in the small town of Corbeil. She still writes and pencils all her strips by hand, with help from a small staff who work in a studio down the street from her house.
Labor intensive
Reading one strip may take 10 seconds. But it takes about 55 hours to produce a week of "For Better or For Worse" because of the extensive research. She's working with an elderly man who suffered a stroke, for example, to capture gestures and behavior for Grandpa Jim.
Another reason Johnston intends to scale back is that she has a mild case of dystonia, a neurological disorder that once caused her muscles to painfully contract and spasm.
A fan at a book-signing ceremony several years ago said she had suffered from the same disorder and suggested she go off hormone replacement therapy.
"She was right; it disappeared," Johnston said. "It took about a year to go away, but now I'm feeling 100 percent better."
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: May, 2007; RPCV Beth Duff-Brown (Congo Kinsasha); Peace Corps Congo Kinshasa; Directory of Congo Kinshasa RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Congo Kinshasa RPCVs; Journalism; Humor; Peace Corps Library; Peace Corps Directory; Peace Corps Original Sources; Peace Corps Message Board; Recent Peace Corps News
When this story was posted in May 2007, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
| PCOL serves half million PCOL's readership for April exceeded 525,000 visitors - a 50% increase over last year. This year also saw the advent of a new web site: Peace Corps News that together with the Peace Corps Library and History of the Peace Corps serve 17,000 RPCVs, Staff, and Friends of the Peace Corps every day. Thanks for making PCOL your source of news for the Peace Corps community. Read more. |
| Suspect confesses in murder of PCV Search parties in the Philippines discovered the body of Peace Corps Volunteer Julia Campbell near Barangay Batad, Banaue town on April 17. Director Tschetter expressed his sorrow at learning the news. “Julia was a proud member of the Peace Corps family, and she contributed greatly to the lives of Filipino citizens in Donsol, Sorsogon, where she served,” he said. Latest: Suspect Juan Duntugan admits to killing Campbell. Leave your thoughts and condolences . |
| Warren Wiggins: Architect of the Peace Corps Warren Wiggins, who died at 84 on April 13, became one of the architects of the Peace Corps in 1961 when his paper, "A Towering Task," landed in the lap of Sargent Shriver, just as Shriver was trying to figure out how to turn the Peace Corps into a working federal department. Shriver was electrified by the treatise, which urged the agency to act boldly. Read Mr. Wiggins' obituary and biography, take an opportunity to read the original document that shaped the Peace Corps' mission, and read John Coyne's special issue commemorating "A Towering Task." |
| Chris Dodd's Vision for the Peace Corps Senator Chris Dodd (RPCV Dominican Republic) spoke at the ceremony for this year's Shriver Award and elaborated on issues he raised at Ron Tschetter's hearings. Dodd plans to introduce legislation that may include: setting aside a portion of Peace Corps' budget as seed money for demonstration projects and third goal activities (after adjusting the annual budget upward to accommodate the added expense), more volunteer input into Peace Corps operations, removing medical, healthcare and tax impediments that discourage older volunteers, providing more transparency in the medical screening and appeals process, a more comprehensive health safety net for recently-returned volunteers, and authorizing volunteers to accept, under certain circumstances, private donations to support their development projects. He plans to circulate draft legislation for review to members of the Peace Corps community and welcomes RPCV comments. |
| He served with honor One year ago, Staff Sgt. Robert J. Paul (RPCV Kenya) carried on an ongoing dialog on this website on the military and the peace corps and his role as a member of a Civil Affairs Team in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have just received a report that Sargeant Paul has been killed by a car bomb in Kabul. Words cannot express our feeling of loss for this tremendous injury to the entire RPCV community. Most of us didn't know him personally but we knew him from his words. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends. He was one of ours and he served with honor. |
| Peace Corps' Screening and Medical Clearance The purpose of Peace Corps' screening and medical clearance process is to ensure safe accommodation for applicants and minimize undue risk exposure for volunteers to allow PCVS to complete their service without compromising their entry health status. To further these goals, PCOL has obtained a copy of the Peace Corps Screening Guidelines Manual through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and has posted it in the "Peace Corps Library." Applicants and Medical Professionals (especially those who have already served as volunteers) are urged to review the guidelines and leave their comments and suggestions. Then read the story of one RPCV's journey through medical screening and his suggestions for changes to the process. |
| The Peace Corps is "fashionable" again The LA Times says that "the Peace Corps is booming again and "It's hard to know exactly what's behind the resurgence." PCOL Comment: Since the founding of the Peace Corps 45 years ago, Americans have answered Kennedy's call: "Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." Over 182,000 have served. Another 200,000 have applied and been unable to serve because of lack of Congressional funding. The Peace Corps has never gone out of fashion. It's Congress that hasn't been keeping pace. |
| PCOL readership increases 100% Monthly readership on "Peace Corps Online" has increased in the past twelve months to 350,000 visitors - over eleven thousand every day - a 100% increase since this time last year. Thanks again, RPCVs and Friends of the Peace Corps, for making PCOL your source of information for the Peace Corps community. And thanks for supporting the Peace Corps Library and History of the Peace Corps. Stay tuned, the best is yet to come. |
| History of the Peace Corps PCOL is proud to announce that Phase One of the "History of the Peace Corps" is now available online. This installment includes over 5,000 pages of primary source documents from the archives of the Peace Corps including every issue of "Peace Corps News," "Peace Corps Times," "Peace Corps Volunteer," "Action Update," and every annual report of the Peace Corps to Congress since 1961. "Ask Not" is an ongoing project. Read how you can help. |
Read the stories and leave your comments.
Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.
Story Source: Cincinnati Enquirer
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Congo Kinshasa; Journalism; Humor
PCOL37656
09