Gary Larson

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Gary Larson (born in Tacoma, Washington on August 14, 1950) is the creator of The Far Side, a comic panel which appeared in many newspapers for fourteen years until Larson's retirement January 1, 1995.

The Far Side, considered by many to be the greatest single-panel cartoon strip ever, was original in catering to an educated audience.

Themes were often surreal, such as how cows behave when no human watches, or the unexpected dangers of being an insect. Often parallels between the behavior of supposedly "superior" humans is compared with that of animals: surrounded by dense fences and houses, a father explains to his son that a bird song is territorial marking common to the lower animals.

Larson often used "mixed metaphors", blending two seemingly unrelated concepts. Example: a family of spiders driving in a car with a "Have a Nice Day" bumper sticker, featuring a "smiley face" with eight eyes.

Since retiring from the Far Side, Larson has occasionally done some cartooning work, such as magazine illustrations and promotional artwork for Far Side merchandise.

In 1998, he published his first post–Far Side book, There's a Hair in My Dirt!: A Worm's Story, an illustrated story with the unmistakable Far Side mindset.

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Trivia

On March 15, 1989, Gary Larson received the prestigious accolade of having a newly-discovered species named after him by Dale H. Clayton, head of the Committee of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Chicago. The Strigiphilus garylarsoni is a biting louse of a genus only found on owls. Larson has since said: "I considered this an extreme honor. Besides, I knew no one was going to write and ask to name a new species of swan after me. You have to grab these opportunities when they come along."

The thagomizer is a feature of stegosaurus anatomy that was first named in a Far Side cartoon.

One of Larson's more famous cartoons shows two chimpanzees grooming. One finds a human hair on the other and inquires about "doing a little more 'research' with that Jane Goodall tramp?" The Jane Goodall Institute thought this was in bad taste, and had their lawyers draft a letter to Larson and his distribution syndicate, in which they described the cartoon as an "atrocity". They were stymied, however, by Goodall herself, who revealed that she found the cartoon amusing. Since then, all profits from sales of a shirt featuring this cartoon go to the Goodall Institute.

Goodall wrote a preface to The Far Side Gallery 5, detailing the "Jane Goodall Tramp" controversy, and also praising The Far Side for Larson's creative ideas, which often compare and contrast the behavior of humans and animals. Larson also described the controversy in detail in The PreHistory of the Far Side (p.167). In 1988 Larson visited Gombe Streams National Park and was attacked by Frodo, a chimp described by Goodall as a "bully". Larson escaped with cuts and bruises.

"The Far Side" first appeared in the Seattle Times in 1978. It was first syndicated in 1980 by Chronicle Features.

Larson graduated from Washington State University in 1972, with a degree in Communications.

In The Complete Far Side, Gary Larson says that his greatest disappointment in life occurred when he was at a luncheon and sat across from Charles Addams. Larson wasn't able to think of a single thing to say to him, and has deeply regretted the missed opportunity ever since.


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Awards

Larson was recognized for his work with the National Cartoonist Society Newspaper Panel Cartoon Award for 1985 and 1988, and their Reuben Award for 1990 and 1994.

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External links

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