Community Update

Renowned cartoonist brings unique perspective to local retirees

If you had a typical upbringing, where each morning started with a newspaper at your doorstep, there’s a chance that you grew up with a favorite political cartoon. Perhaps you woke up every Sunday morning, ready to have breakfast with the family and skim through the pages of your local paper. If you’re local to Southwest Florida, perhaps you kept an eye out for Doug MacGregor’s weekly sharp – sometimes humorous – view of the area's politics, current events and personalities, illustrated through sometimes biting, sometimes humorous, but always topical, political cartoons in The News-Press.

This was the reality for thousands of Southwest Floridians. The News-Press featured the talents of MacGregor, a cartoonist who has brought humor and inspiration to the lives of many, for nearly 25 years.

His career got its start in 1980, when he began drawing editorial cartoons in Norwich, Connecticut. Eight years later, he ventured down to Southwest Florida to be closer to family and took his talents to The News-Press. He didn’t just specialize in newspaper cartoons, though. MacGregor is also the author and illustrator of six children’s books: Turtellini, The Turbo Charged Turtle, Turtellini’s Amazing Sky High Adventures, Morgan McKinney’s Bigger-Than-Life Bedtime Story, Rad Hair Day, Ochre the Smoker, and Get Creative, Turn on the Bright Side of Your Brain.

Now, he draws weekly cartoons for the Naples Press and volunteers his time at Golisano Children’s Hospital, where he hand-illustrates coloring pages for children undergoing treatment, allowing them the freedom to add a splash of color to their days. When he’s not volunteering his time at the hospital, you can find MacGregor hosting presentations at local communities, like schools, local organizations or senior living communities, where he tells stories about what makes Southwest Florida so unique.

On Thursday, Feb. 27, MacGregor will be making a stop at Gulf Coast Village, Cape Coral’s only life plan community, to do a presentation open to the public. His goal? To use the power of storytelling to put a smile on the face of each and every guest.

To register for “A Humorous Look at Paradise: The Cartoons of Doug McGregor,” visit  GulfCoastVillage.org/Events or call 239-510-8712.