Editing For Better or For Worse (section)

==Key storylines==
The fictional [[suburban]] town of Milborough is located near [[Lake Simcoe]]. On the ''For Better or For Worse'' website, Milborough is described as being about a 45-minute to one-hour drive from Toronto and resembling [[Newmarket, Ontario|Newmarket]] or [[Etobicoke, Ontario|Etobicoke]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fborfw.com/behind_the_scenes/q_eh/ |title=is The Official Website of Lynn Johnston's comic strip For Better or For Worse |publisher=Fborfw.com |access-date=2012-01-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119075118/http://www.fborfw.com/behind_the_scenes/q_eh/ |archive-date=2012-01-19 }}</ref> and a location map places the town on [[Highway 12 (Ontario)|Highway 12]] near [[Cannington, Ontario|Cannington]] and [[Beaverton, Ontario|Beaverton]] in the northernmost part of [[Durham Regional Municipality, Ontario|Durham Region]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fbofw.com/features/who/main.php# |title=Who's Who: Your official guide to the characters who make up the FBorFW universe |access-date=2012-01-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219091440/http://www.fbofw.com/features/who/main.php |archive-date=2012-02-19 }}</ref> The family's house is located on Sharon Park Drive. 

Otherwise, the Canadian aspects of the strip's story setting is normally presented subtly in details such as the presence of institutions such as [[Canada Post]] and practices such as the family buying milk in [[milk bag]]s, a common packaging in Ontario for that grocery item. However, one major exception Johnston indulged in was having Michael take his post-secondary education in the city of [[London, Ontario]], a mid-sized city 300 km west of Toronto. Johnston chose that setting considering a native of the province of [[Ontario]] could choose that city with its major educational institutions such as [[Fanshawe College]] and the [[University of Western Ontario]], while its distance would allow Michael to have some length from his parents; yet still be within driving distance for vacations and summer breaks.  Furthermore, Johnston also intended that story turn as partially a prank, anticipating ignorant readers to assume that Michael was studying in the city of [[London, UK|London]] in [[United Kingdom|Britain]] and enjoying imagining those people being embarrassed when the regional geography is explained to them. Johnston later confessed it had backfired on her and she had been fooled along with her targeted crowd when she got a congratulatory letter from [[Texas]] along with an earlier strip showing Michael in a cowboy hat, saying the Lone Star State would be a great place to tend to his education. Johnston jokingly remarked she got a taste of her own medicine and realization she did not know all regional geography, due to the [[London, Texas|other community of the same name]]. For their part, the citizenry of London, Ontario welcomed their city's inclusion in the strip, including an official welcome from the University of Western Ontario when Michael switched to that institution.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Johnston |first1=Lynn |title=The Lives Behind the Lines... |date=1999 |publisher=Andrews McMeel Publishing |isbn=07-407-0209-2 |pages=94–96 }}</ref>

In the comic's quarter century, the strip has featured a variety of storylines, as the characters and their friends age. These include Elly's return to the paid work force ("The Last Straw"), John's [[midlife crisis]], the birth of a friend's six-fingered daughter ("Keep The Home Fries Burning"), Elizabeth wearing glasses ("What, Me Pregnant"), friends' divorces and relocating to distant towns, the [[coming out]] of Michael's best friend Lawrence Poirier ("There Goes My Baby"), child abuse (perpetrated by Gordon's alcoholic parents), the death of Elly's mother Marian Richards ("Sunshine and Shadow"), and Elizabeth's experience with sexual harassment and assault at the hands of a co-worker ("Home Sweat Home").

The strip has shown a multiracial cast, intended to reflect Canada's demographics. While the Pattersons are a typical white English-language family, there have been recurring characters of diverse backgrounds (with cultures), including [[Black Canadian|African-Caribbean]], [[Asian Canadian|Asian]], [[Latin American Canadian|Latin America]]n, [[Franco-Ontarian]] and [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] ethnicities. Elizabeth's favourite high school teacher, who inspired her to study education herself, was [[Paraplegia|paraplegic]].

Other issues are also addressed. During her second year at college, Elizabeth moves in with her boyfriend, Eric Chamberlain, but promises not to cohabit. Elizabeth later breaks up with Eric when she finds out he is cheating on her. Storylines sometimes concern the Pattersons dealing with difficult acquaintances such as Thérèse, the ex-wife of Elizabeth's friend Anthony, who resents Elizabeth's presence, or the [[helicopter parenting]] of Deanna's mother, Mira Sobinski.

===Farley's death===
Since the comic happens in real time, it became apparent that the Pattersons' first [[Old English Sheepdog]], Farley, was starting to get fairly old. When he is 14 years old (April 18, 1995), Farley saves four-year-old April from drowning in a stream near the Patterson home. Farley cannot take the shock of the cold water or the exertion of saving April and dies of a heart attack after getting April to shore.

The death provoked a lot of reaction from fans.  "People's emotions were kind of raw," said Johnston of the time. "I received 2,500 letters, about one-third negative. I didn't expect the response to be so great. The letters were open and emotional and honest and personal, full of stories and love."<ref name="spayandneuter">[http://www.y2spay.org/Gina1.htm Neutering Edgar], Gina Spadafori</ref>

When Johnston told fellow cartoonist (and close friend) [[Charles M. Schulz]] that Farley was going to die, Schulz jokingly "threatened to have [[Snoopy]] hit by a truck if Johnston went through with the plan".<ref name="eandp">[https://web.archive.org/web/20071011013858/http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003655528 Good Grief! Author Describes Bio of Charles M. Schulz — And Oldest Son Offers Critique] from the ''[[Editor & Publisher]]'' website</ref> In the end, Johnston kept the timing of Farley's death a secret from Schulz.<ref name="eandp"/>

The official ''For Better or For Worse'' website has a section dedicated to Farley; this includes the strips depicting his heroism and death, plus a selection of "Farley's Spirit" strips.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090218213649/http://www.fborfw.com/features/farley/ Remembering Farley] on the "For Better or For Worse" official website.</ref>  Farley was also named after Canadian author [[Farley Mowat]], a long-time friend of Johnston.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.farleyfoundation.org/extrapages/farley_namehistory.html |title=How Farley Got His Name |access-date=2017-01-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116164215/http://www.farleyfoundation.org/extrapages/farley_namehistory.html |archive-date=2017-01-16 }}</ref>

Johnston has allowed the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association (OVMA) to use Farley's name and likeness for the "Farley Foundation", a charity established by OVMA to subsidize the cost of veterinary care for pets of low-income seniors and persons with disabilities in Ontario.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.farleyfoundation.org/ |title=Farley Foundation |publisher=Farley Foundation |access-date=2012-01-19}}</ref>

===Lawrence comes out===
[[File:For Better or Worse coming out panel.PNG|thumb|300px|Panel showing the coming out of Lawrence to his mother]]
[[Michael Boncoeur]], a friend of Johnston's, had been murdered in Toronto in 1991.<ref name=hunt>"Police hunt former CBC comic's killer". ''[[Vancouver Sun]]'', March 27, 1991.</ref> Although the murder was not over Boncoeur's homosexuality, there were some homophobic attitudes seen in the media coverage of it, and Johnston felt that a gay character should be brought into the strip to help combat anti-gay stereotypes and discrimination.<ref name=drawn>Pam Becker, [https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2004-12-17-0412160371-story.html "Drawing from life"]. ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'', December 17, 2004.</ref> 

In April 1993, Lawrence Poirier's [[coming out]] generated controversy, with readers opposed to homosexuality threatening to cancel newspaper subscriptions.<ref>[https://www.hoganmag.com/blog/the-lynn-johnston-interview/ The Lynn Johnston Interview, ''Hogan's Alley'' #1, 1994]</ref> Johnston did receive supportive mail on the issue generally from social workers and politicians, who praised her for portraying it with realism and avoiding vulgarity. Opposed readers who believed that a homosexual character was highly inappropriate for a family-oriented strip wrote Johnston many letters. While few letters were vicious, Johnston did say that many who opposed the story arc did so in a poignant manner. Johnston said one that was particularly hurtful was from a longtime fan who said she felt it was against her conscience to continue reading the strip; the woman's letter did not have any foul remarks, but the envelope contained returned yellowed ''FBoFW'' strips the fan had kept for a long time on her refrigerator.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cbc.ca/national/blog/video/arts/life_in_a_comic_strip.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080106120730/http://www.cbc.ca/national/blog/video/arts/life_in_a_comic_strip.html |archive-date=2008-01-06 |title=CBC: Life is a comic strip |date=2008-01-06 |access-date=2012-01-19}}</ref> Over 100 newspapers (including New Hampshire's ''[[New Hampshire Union Leader|Union Leader]]'') ran replacement strips during this part of the story or cancelled the comic altogether.<ref name=zuccotom>{{cite news|url=http://www.sptimes.com/News/090401/Floridian/Comic_controversy.shtml|title=Comic controversy|last=Zucco|first=Tom|newspaper=St. Petersburg Times|date=2001-09-04|access-date=2007-05-04|quote=}} – [http://www.fborfw.com/features/lawrence/index.php?page=three Johnston's web site] says that about 40 newspapers ran replacement strips.</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Heckman|first=Meg|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZEHcDwAAQBAJ&q=substitute+content|title=Political Godmother: Nackey Scripps Loeb and the Newspaper That Shook the Republican Party|date=2020-06-01|publisher=U of Nebraska Press|isbn=978-1-64012-193-5|language=en|chapter=Chapter 6: A Personal Connection}}</ref> Much more favourable was the article "Coming Out in the Comic Strips", by David Applegate, editor of the [[Comic & Fantasy Art Amateur Press Association]],{{cn|date=March 2024}} which ran in Hogan's Alley No. 1. The following year, Lawrence introduced his boyfriend, giving rise to another, though smaller, uproar.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://fborfw.com/strip_fix/friday-june-30-2023/|title=June 30, 2023|date=2023-06-30|access-date=2023-12-21}}</ref>

Explaining her decision to have Lawrence come out as gay, Johnston said that she had found the character, one of Michael's closest friends, gradually "harder and harder to bring... into the picture". Based on the fact the Pattersons were an average family in an average neighbourhood, she felt it only natural to introduce this element in Lawrence's character, and have the characters deal with the situation. After two years of development, Johnston contacted her editor, Lee Salem. Salem advised Johnston to send the strips well ahead of time so that he could review the plot and suggest any necessary changes. So long as there was no overt or licentious material, and Johnston was fully aware of what she was doing, Universal Press would support the action. Johnston's personal reflections on Lawrence, an excerpt from the comic collection ''It's the Thought That Counts...'', are included on the strip's official webpage.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060718101158/http://www.fborfw.com/char_pgs/lawrence/index.php Official website]</ref>

One result of the storyline was that Johnston was made a jury-selected "nominated finalist" for the [[Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning]] in 1994. The Pulitzer board said the strip "sensitively depicted a youth's disclosure of his homosexuality and its effect on his family and friends."<ref name="pulitzer"/>

The story goes that Connie adopts a dog to deal with her pre-empty-nest syndrome, and as Michael and Lawrence are talking about her desire for grandchildren, Lawrence mentions that he probably will not be giving her any, and then confesses that he's in a relationship, but with another young man. Michael reacts in disbelief to the news and struggles to understand. Realizing that Lawrence is not "hot for him", Michael understands Lawrence sees him as a friend and not a lover. Michael then insists that Lawrence needs to tell his parents. Lawrence himself is unsure of this, claiming that he really ought to see his family's view on homosexuals and that it could be hurtful to them if he comes out, which is not his intent, but Michael retorts, "it'll be a lie if you don't". Hearing the news, Connie reacts with desperate denial, then orders her husband Greg to speak to him. Greg throws Lawrence out of the house, challenging him to see if "his kind" will take care of him the way Connie and Greg have all these years.

In the middle of the night, Elly wakens Michael and tells him to find Lawrence (as he was the primary instigator). Connie and Greg fought for hours over Greg's banishment of Lawrence, and now Connie simply wants Lawrence back. Michael locates his friend at a donut shop, where they talk until dawn, and Lawrence ultimately returns home, welcomed by Connie and an apologetic Greg, who tells Lawrence that he accepts him as long as his son endeavours to be a good man, and address life afterward with "Que Sera Sera". From this, Connie decides to name the new dog "Sera". Johnston had originally stated she was going to address the issue once then leave it alone; however, she eventually wrote future story arcs about Lawrence's homosexuality.

In 2001, when Michael chose Lawrence to be best man at his wedding to Deanna, Johnston ran two sets of comic strips. In the primary storyline, Deanna's mother Mira Sobinski objects to having a gay man in the wedding party, while in the alternate storyline, which used the same art but modified the dialogue, she instead objects to the flowers that Lawrence, by this time a professional [[landscape architect]], has given Michael and Deanna to decorate the church. The alternate storyline was for newspapers who had not originally published the 1993 debut of Lawrence's homosexuality.<ref name=zuccotom />

In 2007 when she was asked about why she did the storyline, Johnston said,

{{quote|Because it was such a good story. For me Lawrence had always been particularly [long pause] I don't know: gentle, unique, sensitive. It just seemed right – he just always appeared that way to me. Plus, I've had a number of friends who were gay, and what made me decide to do this story was that one of them [Michael Boncoeur] was murdered. Michael was a wonderful comedy writer for the CBC, and I had known him since we were in about Grade 8, and when Michael was murdered the authorities in Toronto reacted to it in a very cavalier manner – like "Well, that's one more of them off the streets." In the end, the young man who took a knife to him [following a scuffle over his bicycle] was ultimately seen as the victim.

His death really prompted that story, because I wanted people to know that this young man, that you've grown up with for so many years, is still the same person. Just because his sexual orientation is suddenly different, he's still the young man who helped you in the garden, helped carry your groceries and sat with you when you cried at school.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.cbc.ca/arts/media/johnston.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110315090158/http://www.cbc.ca/arts/media/johnston.html | archive-date=2011-03-15 | work=CBC News | title=Family affair | url-status=dead}}</ref>}}

===Mtigwaki===
Mtigwaki is a fictional [[Ojibwe]] community in Northern Ontario near [[Lake Nipigon]], where Elizabeth Patterson taught from 2004 to 2006.<ref>More information about Mtigwaki and how it was created is available on  [http://www.fborfw.com/features/mtigwaki/ the official website].</ref> While in school, Elizabeth took a practice teaching job in [[Garden Village, Ontario|Garden Village]] near North Bay.

The community was created with ''Baloney & Bannock'' comic creator Perry McLeod-Shabogesic, of the [[Nipissing First Nation|N'biising Nation]] (Anishinabek Crane Clan). McLeod-Shabogesic worked with Johnston to create an authentic world for the characters to inhabit. His son, Falcon Skye McLeod-Shabogesic, created the Mtigwaki First Nation's logo, which is inspired in part by a [[Dreamcatcher (Native American)|dreamcatcher]], and his wife Laurie assisted Johnston with the Ojibwa language and was written directly into the strip as a [[teaching assistant]] in Elizabeth's classroom. Mtigwaki is shown like many Indigenous villages, with private houses, a meeting hall, a medical station and a casino.

For the series of strips in Mtigwaki, Johnston was awarded the Debwewin Citation for excellence in [[First Nations in Canada|Aboriginal]] issues journalism by the [[Union of Ontario Indians]] in 2004.<ref>Deirdre Tombs, [http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Cartoonist%27s+ordinary+Native+people+celebrated.-a0128437974 "Cartoonist's ordinary Native people celebrated"]. ''Windspeaker'', 2005.</ref>