Gary Larson

Gary Larson (born August 14, 1950) is an American cartoonist. He is the creator of The Far Side, a single-panel cartoon series that was syndicated internationally to over 1,900 newspapers for fifteen years. The series ended with Larson's retirement on January 1, 1995. His twenty-three books of collected cartoons have combined sales of more than forty-five million copies.

Early life and education

Larson was born and raised in University Place, Washington, in suburban Tacoma to Verner, a car salesman, and Doris, a secretary. He graduated from Curtis Senior High School in University Place and from Washington State University in Pullman with a degree in communications. During high school and college, he performed jazz on guitar and banjo.

Larson acknowledges his family has "a morbid sense of humor", and he credits his older brother, Dan, for his "paranoid" sense of humor. Dan pulled countless pranks on Gary, taking advantage of his fear of monsters under the bed by waiting in the closet for the right moment to pounce. Dan "scared the hell out of me" whenever he could, Gary has said, but Dan is also credited for nurturing Gary's love of scientific knowledge. They caught animals in Puget Sound and placed them in terrariums in the basement, even making a small desert ecosystem.

Gary Larson (rugby league)

Gary Larson (born 2 January 1967 in Gladstone, Queensland) is an Australian former rugby league footballer of the 1980s and 1990s. He represented Australia internationally and Queensland in State of Origin, and played most of his club football with the North Sydney Bears before finishing his career with a brief stint at the Parramatta Eels.

Career

North Sydney Bears

Gary Larson made his first grade debut for the North Sydney Bears in his only game for the 1987 NSWRL season, a Round 9 match with Penrith at Penrith Stadium. Starting from the bench, Larson scored a try on debut but the Bears still went down to the Panthers 19-10. 1988 saw Larson playing mainly Reserve Grade for the Bears and he only played two games for the season, including his debut in the starting side playing second-row in the Bears 6-38 loss to league newcomers, the Newcastle Knights.

Nicknamed "Sven Svennson" due to his Nordic appearance, Larson cemented his place in the Bears first grade forward pack in 1989, playing 22 games for the season. As a player he became known for his reliability as a "workhorse" due to his staggering workload in matches.