Cathy Guisewite
She gave a voice to the everyday anxieties of modern womanhood, turning diet dilemmas and office politics into a comic strip that resonated for decades.
Born 1950 (age 76)·American cartoonist·Birthday: September 5·Baby Boomers
Biography
Cathy Guisewite didn't set out to be a cultural commentator; she was just a frustrated advertising executive channeling her stress into doodles. Those doodles, sent to her mother, became 'Cathy,' a comic strip that launched in 1976 and ran for 34 years. Guisewite's genius was in mining the mundane for universal truth. Her protagonist, Cathy, wrestled with the 'four basic guilt groups': food, love, work, and mother. With a simple, expressive line, Guisewite captured the interior monologue of a generation of women navigating new professional freedoms alongside persistent societal pressures. The strip was a running gag about dieting, fraught relationships, and power suits, but it was also deeply empathetic. While some criticized it for perpetuating stereotypes, millions of readers saw their own struggles reflected in Cathy's exclamations of 'AACK!' and her battles with the swimsuit rack. Guisewite created a relatable, imperfect everywoman whose daily life became a shared joke and a gentle solace.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Cathy was born in 1950, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Cathy Was Born
The biggest hits of 1950
#1 Movie
Cinderella
Best Picture
All About Eve
#1 TV Show
Texaco Star Theatre
Cathy's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1950Born
Korean War begins
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,354Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Goodnight Irene" — Gordon Jenkins & The WeaversBest Picture: All About Eve
1955Started school
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat
Gas: $0.29/galHome: $9,550Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Rock Around the Clock" — Bill Haley & His CometsBest Picture: Marty
1963Became a teenager
JFK assassinated in Dallas; Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,100Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Sugar Shack" — Jimmy Gilmer & The FireballsBest Picture: Tom Jones
1966Could drive
Star Trek premieres on television
Gas: $0.32/galHome: $14,200Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"The Ballad of the Green Berets" — SSgt Barry SadlerBest Picture: A Man for All Seasons
1968Could vote
Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated
Gas: $0.34/galHome: $14,950Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Hey Jude" — The BeatlesBest Picture: Oliver!
1971Turned 21
Voting age lowered to 18 in the US
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $18,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Joy to the World" — Three Dog NightBest Picture: The French Connection
1980Turned 30
John Lennon shot and killed in New York
Gas: $1.19/galHome: $47,200Min wage: $3.10/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Call Me" — BlondieBest Picture: Ordinary People
1990Turned 40
Hubble Space Telescope launched; Germany reunifies
Gas: $1.15/galHome: $79,100Min wage: $3.80/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"Hold On" — Wilson PhillipsBest Picture: Dances with Wolves
2000Turned 50
Y2K passes without incident; contested Bush-Gore election
Gas: $1.51/galHome: $119,600Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Breathe" — Faith HillBest Picture: Gladiator
2010Turned 60
Deepwater Horizon oil spill; iPad launched
Gas: $2.79/galHome: $147,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Tik Tok" — KeshaBest Picture: The King's Speech
2020Turned 70
COVID-19 pandemic shuts down the world
Gas: $2.17/galHome: $248,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Blinding Lights" — The WeekndBest Picture: Nomadland
2026Age 76 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Created and wrote the syndicated comic strip 'Cathy' for 34 years, from 1976 to 2010.
- Won the National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year in 1992.
- The 'Cathy' strip was published in over 1,400 newspapers at its peak.
- Authored dozens of bestselling book collections of her comic strips.
Did You Know?
She submitted her first cartoons on the back of office memos from her job at an advertising agency.
The character Cathy was named after Guisewite herself.
She based Cathy's long-term boyfriend, Irving, on her own future husband.
The strip's famous catchphrases include 'AACK!', 'Let me check my calendar!', and 'Not another diet!'
She retired the strip on her 60th birthday, October 31, 2010.
“I think my body is trying to tell me something. I think it's trying to tell me it likes chocolate.”
