Earlier this year, I replaced the long-running but now in repeats comic “For Better or Worse” with a newer strip by a much-heralded cartoonist named Richard Thompson called “Cul de Sac.”

I am now making another change. Thompson is ending the strip because of the effects of Parkinson’s disease, which was first diagnosed in 2009.

His last strip will appear on Sept. 23. Asked in a Q&A interview whether he considered other alternatives that could keep the strip going, he said:

“Yeah, I considered everything: hiring an artist, going Sunday-only, trying to do the whole thing with Photoshop, leaving blank pages on my drawing board overnight and hoping elves would show up and draw some strips. But none of the solutions I came up with satisfied me. They all seemed to suck the fun of the job. And really, if you’re going to have a job as intensive as drawing a comic strip, it’d better be fun.”

If you want to read more from Thompson, go to www.gocomics.com/richardthompsonqa.

Now the disappointing part for those who have long lobbied for the return of “For Better or Worse.” It is not coming back.

Instead, “Cul de Sac” will be replaced by “Stone Soup,” a comic by Jan Elliot carried in more than 42,000 other publications. That strip will begin on Monday, Sept. 24, and I am sure you’ll let me know whether you like it, or not.

Digitize me

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IPad users can search ’The Sun News’ in the App Store and download the new app. E-edition subscribers who want to read it on your smartphones and tablets, go to https://e-edition.thesunnews.com/mobile/

Save the date

The Sun News will team again with WBTW, Coastal Carolina University and Francis Marion University to present a debate between candidates for the 7th Congressional District. Candidate Tom Rice-R, and Gloria Tinubu-D, will face off from 7 to 8 p.m. on Oct. 23 at CCU’s Wheelwright Auditorium.

Contact CAROLYN CALLISON MURRAY at cmurray@thesunnews.com or follow her on Twitter at TSN_ccmurray.