Curse that Brad Mackay of the CBC! Curse him for doing a better interview with For Better or For Worse cartoonist Lynn Johnston than I did:

Q: You’ve been very frank in the past about your difficult childhood, growing up with a tyrannical grandfather and a physically abusive mother, who refused to acknowledge your success, even on her deathbed. Was the creation of the fictional Patterson family, along with its strong family values, a kind of wish fulfilment for you?

A: Well, I think one thing that happens when you have a childhood that is unhappy, like mine was, is you spend a lot of time alone and you make jokes. Many of the other cartoonists had similar experiences. For example, Mike Peters [of Mother Goose & Grimm ] stuttered, so he spent a lot of time alone in his room drawing. My mother was very demanding and strong, so I took everything out on an 8×11½-inch sheet of paper. That was my best friend — my piece of paper.

When I became a parent I told myself I am not going to be rearing my children with a wooden spoon and a textbook. I took it one day at a time. And what’s happened is that I have two children who are very healthy adults. So I feel good that after 33 years I can say “Yes—I was good parent.”

This entry was posted on Monday, August 27th, 2007 at 8:38 am and is filed under Comic Strips, Creators, Interviews, News & Views. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.