Gary Larson
Personal Information
Description
Gary Larson grew up in a blue collar household in a blue-collar city, Tacoma, Washington. He played jazz guitar and worked in a music store, and in 1976 he sent six cartoons to Pacific Search, a regional science and nature magazine. They sent him $90, and that struck Larson as a lot more enjoyable work than the music store. His first steady work as a cartoonist was for The Sumner News-Review, a weekly paper in a Tacoma suburb. The job paid $3 a week. In 1979, The Seattle Times started carrying Larson's once-a-week work, titled Nature's Way, for $15 a strip. The panel drew some complaints of being sick and offensive, and a few complains were enough to get it canceled. Just as The Times pulled the plug, though, Larson took a trip to California to interest The San Francisco Chronicle in his work. The Chronicle offered Larson a daily panel, re-named it The Far Side, and began syndicating it to other newspapers. The Far Side eventually appeared in almost 2,000 newspapers, and every "best of" collection has been a best-seller. Distasteful, disgusting, and delightful, The Far Side often offended those with delicate minds. Nature's bloody nature was a recurring theme, and Larson gained an enthusiastic following among scientists. A species of chewing lice that infests owls was named in Larson's honor, Strigiphilus garylarsoni. Larson took a sabbatical from The Far Side in 1988, traveling to Africa and playing jazz. The panel resumed in 1990, but by late 1994 Larson was weary of deadlines and had enough money to quit The Far Side for good. He still draws cartoons, but on his own schedule, not a syndicate's. In 1998, he wrote There's a Hair in My Dirt: A Worm's Story, a book teaching science through macabre stories and illustrations.
Books
The Complete Far Side, Volume 2
The Far Side® is back in this much-anticipated three-volume slipcased paperback edition of The Complete Far Side! “Every one of these cartoons is just something that drifted into my head when I was alone with my thoughts. And, for better or worse, I ‘jotted’ them down. It was only later, when perhaps I received an angry letter from someone, that it struck me: Hey! Someone’s been reading my diary!” --Gary Larson, from the preface to The Complete Far Side Originally published in hardcover in 2003, The Complete Far Side was a New York Times bestseller. Now it’s back as a paperback set with a newly designed slipcase that will delight Far Side fans. Revered by its fans as the funniest, most original, most “What the ... ?”-inspiring cartoon ever, The Far Side® debuted in January 1980 and enjoyed an illustrious 14 years on the world’s comics pages until Gary Larson’s retirement in 1994. The Complete Far Side celebrates Larson’s twisted, irreverent genius in this ultimate Far Side book. A masterpiece of comic brilliance, The Complete Far Side contains every Far Side cartoon ever syndicated--over 4,000 if you must know--presented in (more or less) chronological order by year of publication, with more than 1,100 that had never before appeared in a book. Also included are additional Far Side cartoons Larson created after his retirement: 13 that appeared in the last Far Side book, Last Chapter and Worse, and six cartoons that periodically ran as a special feature in the New York Times Science Times section as The Far Side® of Science. Creator Gary Larson offers a rare glimpse into the mind of The Far Side® in quirky and thoughtful introductions to each of the 14 chapters. Complaint letters, fan letters, and queries from puzzled readers appear alongside some of the more provocative or elusive panels. Actor, author, and comedian Steve Martin offers his sagacious thoughts in a foreword, and Larson’s former editor describes what it was like to be “the guy who could explain every Far Side cartoon.” During its 14-year run, The Far Side® was syndicated internationally to over 1,900 daily newspapers. It spawned 23 books and has been translated into 17 different languages. Copyright © 2014, 2003 FarWorks, Inc. All rights reserved. The Far Side®, FarWorks, Inc.®, and the Larson® signature are registered trademarks of FarWorks, Inc. in certain countries.
There's a Hair in My Dirt! A Worm's Story
An offbeat, macabre fantasy told by an earthworm to his son who is disgusted when he finds a human hair in his dirt & with his position in life as "the lowest of the low."