Biographies > Lynn Johnston

Johnston is the creator of one of today’s most popular comic strips, For Better or Worse. She donated two original comic strips to the Permanent Collection (#325 in both black and white and colour). Lynn lives with her family in Corbeil. She was the first woman to be awarded the National Cartoonists Society’s Reuben Award for outstanding cartoonist of the year in 1986 and her work has also earned NSC’s best syndicated comic strip in1992. The same year, she was awarded the distinguished Order of Canada. Lynn received the B’nai Brith Canada – Media Human Rights Special Award in 2001 and she was inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2003.

Being an artist in northern Ontario. This region has given me privacy and also the intimacy of a small town where resource material was readily available. The Bookstore, for example, is based on ‘Gullivers Books and Toys’ in North Bay. The police, fire dept, hospital and schools have all played a role. It’s harder for me to fall into the pitfalls of ‘celebrity’ here. I’m part of the community and have friends here who’ve known me for over 25 years. They too have helped shape my work.