‘Cathy’ Creator Calls it Quits

According to the Chicago Tribune, Cathy Guisewite, creator and writer of "Cathy," announced on Wednesday that she is ending the long-running, award-winning newspaper comic strip to spend more time with her family.

Guisewite said, "I suddenly found myself up against this wall: That if I don't quit now, then when? My daughter is 18, and she is going into her last year at high school, and I want to be completely available for her before she moves out. My parents live in Florida, and I really need to be available for them too. Also, I am 60 and I just realized that there is a lot more that I want to do creatively."

“Cathy” has been in the newspaper funnies for 34 years. The first strip ran in 1976 and continued in over 1,400 newspapers, filling 30 volumes. It followed the career-driven “Cathy” as she searched for love and success. It is currently found in about 700 newspapers.

Whether or not “Cathy” was directly based on her own personal life, Guisewite commented, "Definitely the weak and triumphant moments in Cathy's life are right out of mine."

In 2005, after many chocolate splurges and diets, the title character married her longtime boyfriend, Irving Hillman. Guisewite, however, regrets that “Cathy” never had children.

“Cathy” has been a pop culture icon for single women everywhere. The final daily will run Oct. 2, and the final Sunday strip comes out Oct. 3.

“…AAACK!”