After a sheltered childhood in Midland, Mich., Guisewite yearned to attend a college where her world could be expanded. So she packed her neatly ironed blouses, short skirts, and knee sox in her suitcase and headed to Ann Arbor.
“At Michigan, I was introduced to different cultures, races, and ideas,” recalls Guisewite, who soon ditched her short skirts for baggy, ratty jeans, much to her parents’ dismay. “The campus was so big and diverse. Starting classes in 1968 when the world was going through turmoil and change was eye-opening for me.” She says that bigger world vision helped her become a more compassionate, open-minded listener who made an effort to tune into the people, places, and things around her.
Cathy Guisewite got an education at the University of Michigan.
As a coed, Guisewite describes herself as being shy and pretty solitary. She never walked in a protest march on the Diag or chugged a beer at the P-Bell.
“The most rebellious thing I did was join the Delta Delta Delta sorority,” Guisewite says. “And the most impactful thing I did was work at Drake’s Sandwich Shop where I gained 40 pounds eating leftover grilled pecan rolls and milkshakes.”
Her angst over her unwanted weight gain, dieting failures, and poor body image later provided grist for her daily comic strip.
Claudia R. Capos, for Michigan Today details Cathy’s continuing learning experience.
“I loved doing the comic strip, but there was only so much I could say in those four little boxes,” Guisewite says. “It was a dream come true to get to write in essay form in my new book. To have the time and space to talk more thoughtfully about what so many of us have gone through, and are going through now. To help us all step back, look at our lives, and celebrate the many, many things that aren’t our fault!”
