The series ended on January 1,1995, though since 2020 Larson has published additional comics online.
20 Facts About Gary Larson
1.
2.
Gary Larson was born and raised in University Place, Washington, in suburban Tacoma, the son of Verner, a car salesman, and Doris, a secretary.
3.
Gary Larson graduated from Curtis Senior High School in University Place and from Washington State University in Pullman with a degree in communications.
4.
Gary Larson said his family has "a morbid sense of humor", and that he was influenced by the "paranoid" sense of humor of his older brother, Dan.
5.
Dan "scared the hell out of me" whenever he could, Gary Larson said, but Dan nurtured Gary Larson's love of scientific knowledge.
6.
Gary Larson was not able to think of a single thing to say to him and deeply regretted the missed opportunity.
7.
Gary Larson decided that he could increase his income from cartooning by selling his Nature's Way strip to another newspaper.
8.
The Far Side ran for fifteen years, syndicated initially by Chronicle Features and later by Universal Press Syndicate, until Gary Larson retired with his final strip published on January 1,1995.
9.
Gary Larson contacted the Goodall Institute to apologize only to find that Jane Goodall, who had been in Africa at the time of the cartoon's publication and only learned of it years after its initial publication, approved of it, stating that she found it amusing.
10.
Gary Larson praised Larson's creative ideas, which often compare and contrast the behavior of humans and animals.
11.
The significance of many of Gary Larson's cartoons resulted in a major display of over 400 of his original works at the California Academy of Sciences in 1985.
12.
Since retiring from The Far Side, Gary Larson has done occasional cartoon work, including magazine illustrations and promotional artwork for The Far Side merchandise.
13.
Gary Larson has been playing jazz guitar since his teen years.
14.
Gary Larson took advanced lessons from jazz guitarists Remo Palmier and Herb Ellis.
15.
In exchange for guitar lessons from Ellis, Gary Larson provided him with the cover illustration for the album Doggin' Around by Ellis and bassist Red Mitchell.
16.
Gary Larson drew a cover for the November 17,2003, edition of The New Yorker magazine, an offer he felt was too prestigious to refuse.
17.
Gary Larson was awarded the Newspaper Panel Cartoon Award by the National Cartoonists Society in 1985 and 1988, earned the society's Reuben Award for 1990 and 1994, and has been recognized for various individual strips by the National Cartoonist Society in 1989,1990,1991,1993 and 1995.
18.
Eighteen years after earning his bachelor's degree at Washington State, Gary Larson gave the commencement address at his alma mater in 1990.
19.
Since 1999, Gary Larson has objected to his work being displayed on the internet, and has been sending takedown notices to owners of fan websites and users posting his cartoons.
20.
On July 8,2020, Gary Larson released a new section of The Far Side website titled "New Stuff".