Pattersons, cartoonist will retire in 2007

By TOM ZUCCO

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 4, 2001

[Times photo: ] Cartoonist Lynn Johnston recognizes that mixing a church wedding and Lawrence, a gay character, will cause reader reaction.

Six years from now, the last of the Patterson kids will be grown and probably living away from home, Edgar the dog will be getting along in years, and Elly and John, well into middle age themselves, will be looking for new challenges.

And so will their creator, Lynn Johnston.

Johnston confirmed that For Better Or For Worse will come to an end in 2007.

"I have six years to go on my contract and plan to wrap up my strip then," Johnston said. "I have a neurological illness, and I think there are times to end things, when you have to be honest and say, "I don't have the inside track on things like young children.' My kids are 23 and 28. I would be able to write about grandparents and aches and pains, but do I have the same insight into a young family dealing with young children?

Comic controversy The cartoonist who creates the slice-of-life strip For Better or For Worse brings back a gay character, despite hate mail and cancellations when he came out in 1993.

"Now I'm dealing with a number of adults, and the story lines are far more complicated. I have to make it interesting for me. If not, it's just repetitive schlock.

"At times I feel paranoid that my writing is not good enough," she added. "So I draw the most detailed backgrounds, so if my writing isn't good enough, at least the background looks good.

"I don't ever want to put something together just to meet a deadline."

And there are other, more pressing, things she needs to do.

"Clean out my basement," she said with a chuckle. "And go away for longer than two weeks."

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.