Gary Larson - Wikipedia

Thank you, my friend Maj Marty Hogan for making us aware that August 14 is the anniversary if the birth of American cartoonist Gary Larson who is the creator of he Far Side, a single-panel cartoon series that was syndicated internationally to over 1,900 newspapers for fifteen years.

The Far Side 1986 Gary Larson interview on 20/20
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57wcedtGpc8

Images:
1. Gary Larson at his desk.
2. Polar Bears I lift you grab. Was that concept a little too complex, Carl.
3. While their owners sleep, nervous little dogs prepare for their day
4. Cave Men - Early Microscope

Background from ezinearticles.com/?Gary-Larson---The-Far-Side-Comic-Author---A-Bio&id=4004351

"Gary Larson, notable for Far Side comic fame, has a unique biography that plays a substantial role in influencing what many people consider to be his creative genius.
Born in August of 1950 in Tacoma, Washington Gary Larson would go on to achieve an interesting level of fame for the single panel comic strips he published in newspapers around the world from 1980 until his early retirement January first of 1995. Essentially Mr. Larson stepped away from his pen and pad at the age of 45 which is still very youthful by writing career standards.
Growing up in the western portion of Washington state Larson was the son of a car salesman father and a secretary mother and had a typical middle class upbringing by all accounts. A defining period in the life of Gary Larson occurred after he left Curtis Senior High school and went to nearby Washington State University (WSU) for college. After four years at the Pullman, Washington campus Larson received a degree in communications in 1972.
While many people have wondering what primarily inspired the quirky humor Gary Larson was consistently able to summarize in simplistic but hilarious images the answer very well may be Gary's brother Dan. Gary himself gives his older brother much of the credit for shaping his much appreciated humor and fascination with science, a topic that often found a way into his drawings. Sadly Dan died of cancer at the height of his brother's popularity in 1991.
As far as Gary Larson's big break into cartooning it came about as a function of his general dissatisfaction with the direction his life was going after college and specifically his lack of a fulfilling career path. While working in a Washington music store in the late 1970s Larson realized how much he hated his job and decided to try his hand at comic strips. Initially he drew and submitted six cartoons to a regional magazine based out of Seattle. The success of that initial attempt laid the groundwork for Larson to submit pieces to the prominent Seattle Times where he was eventually given a weekly spot to share his creative humor.
Early career success did not take off as a direct result of the Seattle Times picking up his strip but it did lay the groundwork for Larson to pitch the product to the San Francisco Chronicle. Larson himself was pleasantly surprised at the degree of interest the Chronicle expressed. The San Francisco Chronicle can be created with actually coming up with the name The Far Side and playing a significantly role in making Larson a wealthy man as that paper syndicated the piece so that a much wider audience could enjoy the creative musings of Gary Larson.
While new material along the lines of the surreal nature of Gary Larson's ideas are missed by a large portion of the American landscape his genius has fortunately been preserved in the literally thousands of clever ideas he penned that are captured forever as evidence of his imaginative way of thinking about the world.
With an early retirement at the age of 45 Larson afforded himself plenty of time to take up numerous hobbies to fill his days. Larson is an avid jazz guitarist and has even tried his hand at the game of golf a few times. It's unclear if Gary Larson owns a WSU golf bag (his alma mater) but there is no question that if he does he has plenty of time to use it.
As arguably the most famous WSU alumni (at least in certain circles) Larson likely has influenced more than one fellow alum that already carries a Washington State University golf bag to brag to golfing buddies about having attended the same college at the same time as the very highly regarded Gary Larson."

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Maj Marty Hogan Love his cartoons.

Excellent history and biography share sir.