 Born in Scugog Island , Ontario , Frise moved to Toronto at 19 and found illustration work on the Toronto Star 's Star Weekly supplement . His left hand was severely injured at the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917 during World War I , but his drawing hand was unhurt , and he continued cartooning at the Star upon his return . In 1919 he began his first weekly comic strip , Life 's Little Comedies , which evolved into the rural @-@ centred humorous Birdseye Center in 1923 . He moved to the Montreal Standard in 1947 , but as the Star kept publication rights to Birdseye Center , Frise continued it as Juniper Junction with strongly similar characters and situations . Doug Wright took over the strip after Frise 's sudden death from a heart attack in 1948 , and it went on to become the longest @-@ running strip in English @-@ Canadian comics history . 
