Passing Scene Surprise – March 7, 2020

Did you see it?

Forty-some years after it last appeared in the Journal, Gene Patrick’s Passing Scene comic strip made an appearance in the Morning Journal over the weekend.

The Saturday, March 7, 2020 edition included an “Another Viewpoint” feature written by Marcia Ballinger, President of Lorain County Community College (LCCC). The focus of the opinion piece was to encourage county residents to support Issue 17, which renews the original operating levy, along with an additional 0.5 mill.

About a third of the way into the article, it notes that at the time that it opened, "the Lorain Journal featured an editorial cartoon ... commemorating the gift for the public with the tag “From the people of Lorain County to future generations.”

The piece included the last panel from the Passing Scene comic strip of October 1, 1966 from my blog post of October 3, 2011.

Although it would have been nice if Gene's strip had been identified by name (as opposed to referring to it as an editorial cartoon), it was great to see his name and some of his artwork back in the Journal after so many years.