Biography
Lynn Johnston (née Ridgeway) is a Canadian cartoonist from Ontario. Her main claim to fame was creating the long-running comic strip "For Better or For Worse" (1979-2008). It featured a relatively large cast of characters, who aged considerably over the run of the strip. In 1985, Johnston was the first woman to win the Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year, a prestigious American award for professional cartoonists. At age 38, Johnston was also the youngest recipient of the award.
In 1947, Johnston was born in Collingwood, Ontario. Collingwood was a small town, but was home to the Collingwood Shipyards which produced ships for the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II. About 10% percent of the town's population worked at the shipyards. The Ridgeway family eventually moved to North Vancouver, British Columbia, where Johnston spend much o her early life.
Johnston received her college education at the Vancouver School of Art, as she aspired to become a professional artist. Following her graduation, she briefly worked for the animation industry as a cel colorist. In 1969, she married her first husband Doug Franks and moved back to Ontario.
During the early 1970s, Johnston worked as a medical artist for McMaster University. She often depicted "routine hospital happenings" in her drawings. When pregnant with her first child, her obstetrician was Murray Enkin (1924 -2021), a leading figure in his field. Enkin asked Johnston to draw single-panel cartoons for the ceiling of his office. He wanted to amuse his patients. Johnston collected these drawings, and published them in book form under the title "David, We're Pregnant!" (1973). The book became a best seller, launching Johnston's career as a cartoonist.
By the mid-1970s, Johnston worked simultaneously as a cartoonist, a freelance commercial artist, and a medical artist. She divorced Franks because he was verbally abusive to her. She started a romantic relationship with dental student Rod Johnston, who eventually became her second husband. She published her second book under the title "Hi Mom! Hi Dad!" (1975).
In 1978, Johnston and her family moved to Lynn Lake, Manitoba. Shortly after, she was asked to create a comic strip for Universal Press Syndicate (1970-2009). It was an American press syndicate, headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. She was interested in their offer, and started developing characters for her prospective comic strips. She based the main characters of the strip, the Patterson family, on herself and her family. She submitted her initial strips for approval, and was surprised when the syndicate offered her a twenty-year contract.
"For Better or For Worse" was one of the most successful comic strips of her era, published in about 2000 newspapers and over 20 countries. Johnston was commended for her willingness to cover controversial subjects, such as the "coming out" of a long-running character. The comic strip received several adaptations for television.
In 2007, Johnston announced that she was divorcing Rod Johnston after 30 years of marriage. She also planned to end the comic strip, and retire. The comic strip ended on August 31, 2008, and soon went on reruns of its early years. Until 2010, Johnston would also publish a few original chapters of the strip. They reused her artwork from the 1980s, combined with new dialogue.
As of 2021, Johnston is 74-years-old. She remains in retirement, and maintains a close relationship with her adult daughter Katie Johnston. Mother and daughter have worked and lived together over several decades. Johnston is still one of the most celebrated Canadian cartoonists, and a collection of her artwork is available at the Library and Archives Canada.
