In news sure to concern the worldwide Phantom community, Daily and Sunday newspaper strip author Tony DePaul has been diagnosed with cancer.
To be specific, biopsy results show that Tony has a non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma that should apparently respond well to chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
Fair to say the man himself is staying very optimistic, with his philosophical never-say-die attitude clearly evident in his blog posts sharing the news. Over a series of posts he variously describes the offending lump as a "marshmallow", "lazy", and "the Beetle Bailey of lymphatic cancers".
Typifying the man, one response to a well-wisher encapsulates his approach, "I think this will just be a chronic thing from here on in, where cancer & I live in the same town, pass on the street every day, and give each other a sidelong look with a hand resting on our guns."
You can read all about Tony's assessment of the situation in his own words here. It's fair to say he hasn't resorted to consulting witchdoctors just yet!
Given that he's just returned from 14,500 mile (almost 23,400 km) motorcycle odyssey through the Arctic circle - a run from his home on Rhode Island up to Tuktoyaktuk in the Northwest Territories and Prudhoe Bay in Alaska - you can understand that this little setback is not going to slow him down too much. For those keen to catch up on those adventures, Tony recommends this post as a window into the trip.
From all the team at ChronicleChamber, and we are sure from the wider Phantom phandom, we wish Tony all the best and all our support as he faces this new battle.
