An overweight character tells his doctor, “I try to eat healthy. I never sprinkle salt on ice cream, I only eat decaffeinated pizza and my beer is 100% fat free.” The plight of the preposterous patient was penned by the famous American cartoonist, the late Randy Glasbergen.
Noted for his honed and humorous handling of health issues, the talented Glasbergen liked to say that he lived, worked and dieted in a creaky old Victorian house in rural upstate New York. Best known for three decades of widespread newspaper syndication of his precise pieces, and a successful freelance career, he produced from 1982, the seasoned strip of the still sparring couple, “The Better Half” which ended in 2014, after a 58-year run. Glasbergen, also aged 58, ironically died from cardiac arrest the next year, following admission to a hospital for an infection.
Among my best-loved Glasbergen illustrations, is the scathing advice to a patient, from the much-featured medical practitioner, “With this diet you don’t count calories, fats or carbs. You count people who suffer from heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.” Glasbergen’s compositions are admired and accessible including across the worldwide web because of the enduring international appeal of the comic but crafty messages, be it in Chenago County, Charity or Chaguanas.
