Lisa's Story: The Other Shoe - Softcover

Batiuk, Tom

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0873389522 ISBN 13: 9780873389525

Publisher: The Kent State University Press, 2007

Synopsis

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of Lisa’s Story go towards cancer research and education. Visit Lisa’s Legacy Fund to learn more or to make a direct donation.

A story from the comic strips that will make you laugh and cry

Tom Batiuk spent several years as a middle school art teacher before creating the comic strip Funky Winkerbean in 1972. Originally a “gag-a-day” comic strip that portrayed life in high school, Funky has evolved into a mature series of real-life stories examining such social issues as teen dating abuse, teen pregnancy, teen suicide, violence in schools, the war in the Middle East, alcoholism, divorce, and cancer.

In 1999, Lisa Moore, one of Funky’s friends and a main character, discovered she had breast cancer. Batiuk, unsure about dealing with such a serious subject on the funny pages, decided to go ahead with the story line. He approached the topic with the idea that mixing humor with serious and real themes heightens the reader’s interest. Lisa and husband Les faced the same physical, psychological, and social issues as anyone else dealing with the disease.

After a mastectomy and chemotherapy, Lisa was cancer free. She finished her law degree, opened a practice, and had a baby daughter, Summer. Then, in the spring of 2006, the cancer returned and metastasized. Lisa’s Story: The Other Shoe is a collection of both the 1999 comic strips on Lisa’s initial battle with cancer and the current series examining her struggle with the disease and its outcome. Additionally, it contains resource material on breast cancer, including early detection, information sources, support systems, and health care.

About this title

From the Publisher:

Tom Batiuk spent several years as a middle school art techer before creating the comic strip Funky Winkerbean in 1972. Originally a "gag-a-day" comic that portrayed life in high school, Funky has evolved into a mature series of real-life stories examining such social issues as teen dating abuse, teen pregnancy, teen suicide, violence in schools, the war in the Middle East, alcoholism, divorce, and cancer.

Batiuk, unsure about dealing with the serious subject of cancer on the funny pages, decided to go ahead with the story line. He approached the topic with the idea that mixing humor with serious and real themes heightens the reader's interest. Lisa and husband Les faced the same physical, psychological, and social issues as anyone else dealing with the disease.

Lisa's Story: The Other Shoe is part of the Literature & Medicine Series published by Kent State University Press. Additionally, it contains resource material on breast cancer, including early detection, informtion sources, support systems, and health care.

From the Back Cover:

"I love the way this extremely serious and complex topic of breast cancer is made so easy to understand and absorb in a clever format. This thoughtful and humorous comic strip encourages routine self-examination and regular checkups, which will hopefully add up to early detection. I found Funky Winkerbean a unique way of discussing something that so many women and their families will face. Well done Funky Winkerbean."
--Olivia Newton-John, breast cancer survivor.

"`A time to be born and a time to die'--Lisa's Story will show you all that cancer and death can take away. But what it really shows us is that there's a lot of life and ways to live it between those two inevitable times."
--Chuck Behrens, hospice chaplain and author of The Candle Maker (2001)

"First and foremost, Lisa's Story is a wonderful story--insightful, poignant, warm, witty and touching. It is an accurate yet compassionate portrayal of someone living with cancer."
--Rimas Jasin, regional vice president for the American Cancer Society (Ohio)

About this edition

• Publisher: The Kent State University Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0873389522
• ISBN 13: 9780873389525
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 246