Douglas MacGregor

Renowned cartoonist brings unique perspective to local retirees

A person in a teal shirt pretends to paint a whimsical illustration featuring cartoon animals and clouds. The image includes a large handwritten signature.By Ryan Keller

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.

MacGregor is more than an artist: he’s a storyteller. Through each presentation, he spotlights the uniqueness of Southwest Florida and the experiences of our area that can’t be found anywhere else.

“We have a unique lifestyle down here that’s different from up north,” said MacGregor. “Even our hobbies, like playing pickleball or going to the beach, make us different.”

MacGregor, a northerner himself, finds Southwest Florida’s culture fascinating. With so many residents who have migrated from the colder states, Southwest Florida has quickly become a melting pot, with every individual bringing a piece of their former home, like Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin, with them. That’s the great thing about communities: they foster a rich environment for people from all walks of life to gather, share experiences and make new ones. The same applies for senior living communities – many of Gulf Coast Village’s residents have relocated to Cape Coral from up north, but they’ve found similarities and differences in their behaviors and traditions that have created unbreakable friendships.

Gulf Coast Village, Cape Coral’s only life plan community, has been a longtime supporter of the arts. In November, we launched Gulf Coast Gallery, a partnership with the North Fort Myers Arts Association that features art from local artists and Gulf Coast Village’s own artists. Each exhibit has its own theme, with the most recent one being “Around the World in 50 Days.” MacGregor’s artwork is on display at Gulf Coast Village through Feb. 27 as part of the current art exhibit.

MacGregor states, “We all have the ability to remain young at heart. Tap into your inner child – the nostalgic piece of our childhood that lives inside each of us. Some people tell me, ‘I can’t even draw a straight line,’ but I believe everyone can. It’s just a matter of bringing it out in people.”

And that’s exactly what MacGregor plans to do when he visits our community on Feb. 27. Along with showing guests cartoons, MacGregor’s presentation will ignite nostalgia in attendees. As a newspaper cartoonist of over 40 years, he is eager to find out what their experiences with newspapers were growing up.

MacGregor’s wants to encourage guests to meet new friends in the crowd and feel comfortable enough to share their own stories and experiences with life in Southwest Florida and with art. He’ll also have his children’s books available for purchase and to sign at the event (cash or check only) for guests looking to give a gift to a loved one.

Art lies within all of us. Maybe we enjoy poetry or have a fondness for doodling. Perhaps we grew up on coloring books or spent our weekends drawing illustrations on the sidewalk with colorful sidewalk chalk. More likely, most of us probably spent our weekend mornings reading through the Sunday comics of our local newspaper.

Art has no limits. No matter if you’re a child or if you’re an older adult, being in touch with your creative side is intrinsic to living a joyful life.

To register, please visit GulfCoastVillage.org/Events.