The Best of Gary Lautens

Julie Rekai Rickerd is a Toronto-based broadcaster and public-relations
consultant.

The late Gary Lautens, the Toronto Star columnist who shared his family
with millions of readers five days a week, became an institution in the
hearts and minds of his audience. This book features highlights from his
bestsellers No Sex Please ... We’re Married and Take My Family ...
Please!, both of which won Stephen Leacock medals for humor. The books
have been out of print since 1984, making this compilation especially
welcome.

Lautens’s “everyman” approach to the daily foibles of his
delightful family gave his readers many chuckles and guffaws. His wife,
Jackie, the “Resident Love Goddess,” kept the rambunctious children
Stephen, Jane, Richard, and, sometimes, Gary, on an even keel. She even
kept Sarah, “the Semi-Wonder dog,” in check. Their escapades were so
lovingly and humorously recorded by Lautens that the entire family
became a necessary adjunct to his readers’ day.

It is a great pleasure to have the opportunity to reminisce and
re-experience the growing years of the Lautens family and their beloved
dog. Lynn Johnston’s accompanying cartoons delightfully enhance the
hilarious episodes and poignant moments in their lives.