The latest episode of Southwest Magazine featured St. Andrews artist and cartoonist Ted Michener, whose new project combines humour and resilience in the face of cancer. Host Vicki Hogarth sat down with Michener to discuss his book, Ted’s Tunes: A Cancer Patient’s Look: On the Brighter Side Through Doodling, a collection of sketches inspired by time spent in hospital waiting rooms.

Michener, well known locally for his paintings, Courier cartoons, and ownership of The Gables, explained how the project began unintentionally. During hospital visits, he carried a pen and began sketching faces, scenes, and small moments of daily life.

 "It just evolved from waiting for my procedures at the local hospitals," said Michener. "I would sketch while I was waiting. It seemed to lighten people's load up somewhat."

His doodles caught the attention of nurses and patients. Staff at the Saint John Regional Hospital and Charlotte County Hospital started photocopying and displaying them. One nurse even stapled drawings together behind reception, prompting the idea of a booklet for patients.

"Eventually, one of the nurses compiled many [of my doodles] together and stapled them and put that up behind the receptionist desk," said Michener. "I thought maybe I should publish a little booklet. However, financially, that is not viable from my standpoint now."

With support from the Charlotte County Cancer Association, the first 100 copies were printed and quickly distributed. Michener stressed that the project is not for profit, but rather intended as encouragement for people undergoing treatment. At 84, he remains candid about his own diagnosis and recovery, saying humour helped him take each day as it came.

The drawings touch on the details of hospital life: climbing the long steps to the parking lot, dodging porters, and even the fact that staff must pay for parking. Cafeteria food becomes fodder for gentle jokes. Patients and caregivers recognized the experiences, often remarking, “I remember that.”

"It gets their mind off what's happening in their body and in their lives for a moment," said Michener. "This book mainly is moments that have happened while I've been going for treatments. I'd say 95% are actual situations."

The response from medical staff was equally enthusiastic, with nurses and doctors sharing copies and noting the relief the cartoons provided.

Volume Two is already underway, with Michener continuing to draw, paint, and even play tennis two years after his diagnosis. Copies of the first book are available at The Gables and The Nautical Shop in St. Andrews. CHCO-TV has offered to help expand distribution, and community members are being asked to assist with printing, publishing, or connecting the project with health networks. Anyone in the community interested in helping to print the book can reach out to local@chco.tv.

Michener’s career began decades earlier, after a co-worker encouraged him to pursue art school. He studied at the Ontario College of Art and Design, later taught there, and built a career in advertising and newspapers. His editorial cartoons, including early work in the Toronto Star, always sparked conversation. Locally, his Courier cartoons offered satire on issues ranging from water quality to council debates, with reactions from politicians confirming their impact.

As a painter, Michener is represented in several galleries, including Handworks Gallery in Saint John, Breakwater Gallery in Eastport, Maine, and the McCain Gallery in Florenceville. He describes painting as therapy, often working late at night in a quiet studio overlooking the bay.

Michener offered simple advice for patients: take the good days as they come, try to smile, and use humour as a way to cope. The book, he said, is a way to share that perspective with others facing similar challenges.