Lynn Johnston
Lynn Johnston (born May 28, 1947) is a Canadian cartoonist who is most known for her comic strip For Better or For Worse, and was the first female cartoonist to win the prestigious Reuben Award.
Born Lynn Ridgeway in Collingwood, Ontario, she was raised in North Vancouver, British Columbia. She attended the Vancouver School of Art with hopes of making it as an artist. After marrying in 1969, she moved back to Ontario.
Unable to obtain employment in animation, Johnston worked as a medical artist at McMaster University. While expecting her first child, she did drawings on the ceiling of her obstetrician's office. Those drawings were published in her first book entitled David We're Pregnant, which was published in 1973. After her divorce, she freelanced in a greenhouse which was converted into a studio.
In 1978, Johnston and her two children relocated to Lynn Lake, Manitoba. She was asked by United Press Syndicate if she was interested in doing a comic strip. As a result, she sent off twenty copies of a strip called The Johnstons, which would first appear in newspapers throughout Canada under the new title For Better or For Worse.
Many story lines draw from her family's real-life experiences. Her main characters are named after the middle names of her husband and children. Elly is modeled after a friend who died when Johnston was young. Her brother-in-law, Ralph Johnston, inspired the controversial story about Lawrence's coming out. Johnston's niece, Stephanie, is developmentally handicapped and her experience is shared in recent story lines on the integration of developmentally handicapped students in April's class.
Johnston was close friends with Charles M. Schulz, creator of Peanuts. She also is friends with Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin and Hobbes.
Her daughter, Katie, is an art student living in BC, and her son, Aaron, works in the television industry in Vancouver, BC.
Johnston now resides in the Northern Ontario town of Corbeil. [1]
Awards and honours
- 1986 - Reuben Award; first woman, first Canadian and youngest artist ever to win this prestigious award
- 1987 - Gemini Award, Best Cartoon Series
- 1990 - Honorary Degree, Doctor of Letters, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario
- 1991 - National Cartoonist Society Newspaper Comic Strip Award
- 1992 - Awarded the Order of Canada, the country's highest civilian honour
- 1993 - Honorary Degree, Doctor of Laws, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario
- 1993 - Nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for story on Lawrence's coming out
- 1999 - Honorary Degree, Doctor of Laws, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario
- 2000 - Honorary Degree, Doctor of Letters, Nipissing University, North Bay, Ontario
- 2000 - Honorary Degree, Doctor of Letters, Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, Vancouver
- 2001 - Comic of the Year, Editor and Publisher
- 2003 - A star on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto
- 2004 - Debwewin Citation from the Anishinabek Nation for excellence in Aboriginal-issues journalism.
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