My husband gave me your wonderful, ten pound (we weighed it) book for Christmas, and I just finished it. What a terrific collection! I loved going back in Doonesbury history, and I found the pages of information and background fascinating. Thanks!

I'm enjoying Alex's announcement -- particularly the part about "He doesn't know it yet..." The real question is just how much Alex knows about what he knows. Might be a surprise there for her, but odds are it may be a long time before she discovers this little fact. After all, Toggle's track record speaks for itself and he's shown interesting degrees of subtlety already.

I sympathize with the girl totally. I too am getting married. To Natalie Portman.

Goodbye, Daisy. Rest in peace. We'll miss you.

Ah, you've done it again. How do you manage to pierce the heart with this comic strip?! And I love that you give Alex all the best; she must be daddy's little girl, eh? I've been here for 30 years, and when she graduated from MIT... Well, there it is. Crazy, but there it is. Live forever, mate.

This is a timely sequence on funerals, given what just happened in Tucson. Relevant in how it shows that memorials all too often become about politics and the grievances of those left behind, rather than a celebration of those who've passed.

Today's strip: words out of my mouth. At my mother's funeral, one of her friends went on and on about how sweet and thoughtful and kind my mother was. My jaw was dropped so low, all I could say was, "Really?"

I don't want the funeral to end either. As a fellow Boomer I've noticed how often one's very old friends will make the effort to show up at a parent's funeral -- I'm hoping we're going to see at least one of Zonker, Mark, Joanie and B.D. Preferably all of them. And I'd really love to see Leo and B.D. join forces to confront Zeke and the superannuated biker as they try to get in through the attic window.

I know it sounds weird, but I'm going to be sorry when this funeral is over. It's one of the funnest things GBT has done in a long time, especially the conflict between Mike and his brother. And J.J. and Uncle Stupidheads' behavior confirms my suspicion that they're going to do their best to wreck Alex's wedding. But, of course, we can count on Leo to save the day by reminding Alex with a simple gesture that it's really about the two of them.

I am loving the Retrospective book. It's perfect. Not only does it put me in the frames of mind of I had when I first looked at these strips, but it also allows me to see more than one a day and to smile and laugh for a variety of reasons. Thanks for doing it all.

Excellent artwork on panel three of today's strip. I keep looking at it and laughing. Keep up the excellent work, G.T!

In my family, it's referred to as "the hair pullin'" -- when everyone starts arguing over who gets what from the deceased's worldly goods. I don't remember anyone actually getting their hair pulled, but I do know of family members who haven't spoken to each other for several years after arguments over stuff that wasn't even valuable. In the strip we haven't gotten there yet, but I'm looking forward to seeing how the Doonesbury heirs settle the inheritance. It's always a surprise to see who acts crass (not usually who we expect) and who behaves with some class (never who we expect).

"The youngest Dr. Whoopee sales manager in history..." With a two-day setup on that line, it could take the prize for all time cheesiest effort by a salesman.

It seems like it would be in character for Toggle to consider taking MDMA to see if it improved the aphasia. Or LSD. Alexander Shulgin's book Pihkal describes an incident where one of his college students greatly reduced his stuttering that way.

I just want to send my condolences at Mom's passing. I wonder if Zonker is invited to the wake. Many thanks for the last 40 years!

A comment re yesterday's SayWhat? quote, where Sarah Palin's aide said the crosshair  Palin used on a map "is a surveyor's symbol."  It is. And we call it a target. And when we point the surveying instrument (sometimes called a gun) at it, we say we are shooting it.

I read the strip every day, making my way through 40 years of the story of Michael Doonesbury and his friends, and I've gotten a bit nostalgic with the passing of his mother, a character I always loved. I find myself wondering about some of the characters we haven't seen for a while -- Kim Rosenthal's parents, the girl Joanie cared for who yelled "It's a woman. It's a baby woman!", and Phred. Thank you, and keep up the good work. You are an inspiration to political humorists, even those amongst us who cannot draw.

Today's SayWhat? quote -- Glenn Beck emailing Sarah Palin, "Please look into protection for your family. An attempt on you could bring the Republic down." -- brings to mind the Buffalo Springfield song "For What It's Worth":

There's something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware
I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down...

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid

Wow, you are hitting a lot of taboo subjects with Daisy's passing -- but you certainly have peeked into my family. Today's strip hit me in the gut, with the idea that a family member would steal from the house at the wake, since that's what happened to us. People don't like to talk about that side of life; I'm not sure if seeing it in your strip is a comfort (to know that it's common enough to be mentioned) or just a bad reminder.