Yesterday we were lucky enough to have Lynn Johnston of ‘For Better or For Worse’ fame come to town, and I must say the lady is sick-good at drawing. Turns out she’s also really nice, and incredibly patient as she spoke, answered questions, signed books and drew for over two hours. She was promoting her new book, ‘Farley Follows His Nose’, co-authored by local writer Beth Cruikshank.
I was shameless; I asked her to sign all my books, make me a drawing, and then I stuck a ‘Crowbar Benson’ flyer in her hand. I was sort of waiting for her to stab me with a pen, but she was very nice about the whole thing. She told a story about how the editors of the book didn’t like the cover she drew, and I kept thinking, ‘This is the most successful cartoonist in the world right now, and some idiot editor is telling her how to draw?!’ She didn’t stab the editor, either, which is a pity.
Lynn Johnston Sketch
I really regret missing that but Dad got home too late. Nice to get the drawing!
Wow, I’m incredibly jealous! I’ve always wanted to meet her. When I was growing up, For Better or For Worse was easily my family’s favourite strip.
Oh for cryin’ out loud, I had totally forgotten about that and was pissed off the next day because of missing it. Haha, unbelievable.
That’s really cool. Lynn Johnston was a big influence on my approach to cartooning. She has an ability to keep her comics relatable and grounded in realism.