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It seems that Gary Larson is launching a new website for The Far Side. Here is a CNN article: https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/18/entertainment/gary-larson-far-side-return-trnd/index.html Gregorybard ( talk) 04:55, 19 December 2019 (UTC)
While I like the picture of Larson, why was the one of his home, taken by a Wikipedean so there is no copyright problem, removed? I think the castle part, especially the flag, is evocative of some of his cartoons and is therefore notable and encyclopedic. Is it considered an invasion of his privacy that he is known to value highly? Spalding 01:05, Jun 21, 2005 (UTC)
whoever deleted the picture is a pedantic moron with too much time on their hands just like everyone else here —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.224.217.39 ( talk • contribs) .
Since when do any public figures in North America have a right to privacy? User:Anthergene 14:10, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
I've just written almost the entire article of The Prehistory of the Far Side, and I've provided a link to it in the article on Larson. I wouldn't mind suggestions on it. Also, I recommend that the Larson article should have a list of Larson's books at the end, linkified if possible. marbeh raglaim 11:28, 7 September 2006 (UTC)
Seems to be an attempt at vandalism... since I could not find any references about the discovery of the "Bozone Layer" and it had a large number of spelling mistakes...
Is there any reliable information about the rash of Cease-and-Desist letters sent either by or on behalf of Larson? There's lots of webpages that purport to know someone who recieved a C&D letter, or that Larson is fanatical/obsessed with protecting his "children".
Does anyone know? This was the readon I came to the page.
--> He stopped in 1995 because he didn't want his cartoons to become overly repetitive or stale. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.120.161.6 ( talk) 15:08, 11 September 2009 (UTC)
Has it been confirmed that the letter Gary Larson received in the Jane Goodall incident had actually come from the real Jane Goodall Institute? The way I understand the relevant section in The Prehistory of the Far Side, the letter did not come from the Jane Goodall Institute at all, and that it was a prank someone had pulled on Gary Larson. Any comments? -- leuce 15:10, 10 March 2007 (UTC)
All the information we have on the incident come from Larson and Goodall themselves, who have never indicated that the letter was a hoax. Potentially it could have been a publicity stunt crafted by both of them, but without any evidence to support this theory we have little choice but to take them at their word. In any case I don't think the stance of the letter was implausible, even if it was misguided. marbeh raglaim 01:22, 28 March 2007 (UTC)
Having said that, I should add that I have had some doubts about the veracity of the protest letters Larson reprints in The Prehistory of the Far Side. Larson is a kidder if I ever saw one, and it's possible that more than a few of these "hate letters" are about as genuine as his purported childhood drawings from earlier in the book. (For example, am I to believe that someone really started an organization called the Cow Tools Fellows dedicated to solving the mystery of the notorious "Cow tools" cartoon?) marbeh raglaim 01:48, 28 March 2007 (UTC)
The biography section and the 'Far Side' section are extremely repetitive. The should be merged or content taken out so they do not overlap so much. Iammaggieryan 22:53, 7 June 2007 (UTC)
The biography section states that Larson graduated from high school and college in the same year (1972). Is this correct? 66.41.249.234 ( talk) 03:03, 9 January 2009 (UTC) M
The section on "There's a Hair in my Dirt" says "It is considered the completion of a Gary Larson collection". What does that mean? It makes no sense. One could certainly buy it before getting all of the Far Side collections. —Preceding unsigned comment added by WorldAsWill ( talk • contribs) 05:38, 18 March 2009 (UTC)
Although Larson being a Lutheran is implied by the "Lutheran pages" stuff at the top and bottom of the article, I could not find any actual mention of his Lutheranism in the Article itself? Masternachos ( talk) 01:17, 8 June 2009 (UTC)
This article - http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/9597 - says it was a heart attack, not cancer as stated here. 70.50.52.111 ( talk) 03:31, 19 December 2009 (UTC)
He can't have died in 2009, because he is quoted in a CNN interview in December of 2019. https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/18/entertainment/gary-larson-far-side-return-trnd/index.html Gregorybard ( talk) 04:57, 19 December 2019 (UTC)
I added a reference to a 2002 article in The Spectator which mentions Larson being attacked by Frodo. Doesn't give the year that it happened. I looked in news archives but I haven't found contemporary news articles on it (the wikipedia article currently says it happened in 1988.)-- Larrybob ( talk) 07:52, 19 January 2010 (UTC)
I think that, seeing as Larson is retired, the infobox should reflect this. I shall change this, unless anyone objects. ☠ QuackOfaThousandSuns ( Talk) ☠ 01:46, 22 January 2010 (UTC)
2 remarks.
Thanks Kvsh5 ( talk) 21:59, 13 February 2010 (UTC)
Exactly how does this photo look ok? It's a picture of some sort of plastic mannequin. -- Xyzzyplugh ( talk) 19:24, 26 November 2010 (UTC)
While I rarely deal with copyright issues on Wikipedia, I think this image may be ok per non-free content criteria. Assuming there are no copyright issues, it would be far more appropriate to change the caption than to delete the photo entirely and leave the article without any images at all. Our job as editors is to build an encyclopedia and while that often means removing inappropriate material it is often better to use small changes to improve an article rather than simply deleting anything that at first glance we might find offensive. Voiceofreason01 ( talk) 20:30, 26 November 2010 (UTC)
I distinctly recall that after retiring, Larson continued to write the occasional comic. A couple times a year, the New York Times Science section would publish a new cartoon of his. Also, every year one new cartoon would be the subject of a multiple choice question in the New York Biology Regents (a standardized test generally taken by 9th graders in New York State). One comic featured a square paramecium being wheeled away into an ambulance while regular shoe-shaped paramecia looked on in horror. I could not find references to these cartoons online, can anyone verify a source and put something in this article? Yserbius ( talk) 19:59, 20 August 2015 (UTC)
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Photos of Larson himself seem to be short supply on the internet, although there is one here. So a free-use image may be difficult to find. There is a copy of a 1986 interview with Lynn Sherr on ABC's 20/20 on YouTube, but I guess this may be a copyright violation. Martinevans123 ( talk) 09:25, 4 June 2017 (UTC)
He turned 70 today, not 69. The Mo-Ja'al ( talk) 23:54, 14 August 2020 (UTC)
I tagged the sentence The Garylarsonus beetle carries his name.
with a {{
Better source}} back in 2017:
[1]. As I said in my |reason=
, that source (and many others others I've seen repeating this claim) doesn't provide any information as to who named it after him and when, or anything about the genus other than its name and namesake, and I also cannot find any such genus name in the literature about beetle taxonomy. I'm certainly skeptical that we should use "Curiosities of Biological Nomenclature" as a reliable source for this. The best sources I have been able to find in terms of providing specifics are:
Perhaps the ultimate scientific compliment will be paid to Larson by a Smithsonian Institution scientist who studies water beetles. Entomologist Paul Spangler said he is now trying to pick the perfect South American diving beetle from among several new species he collected on a recent expedition to name "larsoni" after the cartoonist.
— Hooper, Celia (April 19, 1987). "'Far Side' Strip has Smithsonian Rolling". Sun-Sentinel.
This exquisite specimen will be celebrated throughout the scientific world as the newest of 300,000 known beetle species - beetle garylarsonus. Museum of Natural History entomologist Paul Spangler is combing the darker, danker corners of the globe for just such a creature to commemorate the approaching extinction of the only cartoon on the funny pages he ever reads - The Far Side.
— Barry, John (January 23, 2015) [December 9, 1994]. ""Far Side" Fans Honor Cartoonist Gary Larson". Greensboro News and Record.
So at the very least this was only ever going to be a species of beetle, not a genus. And perhaps people took his intention to formally name a beetle species after him as a fact and just relayed that as such. He certainly intended to name a species after him, but I've been unable to find out if he actually succeeded in doing so. Not sure if we want to just strike the sentence altogether or mention his intention in doing so. Hopefully knowing it was a species and that it was Paul Spangler who wanted to do so helps people find more sources if they do exist. Umimmak ( talk) 06:09, 19 April 2021 (UTC)
References
Gary Larson was also the commencement speaker at WSU 1986- College of Science and Arts Charwkh ( talk) 01:58, 24 April 2023 (UTC)
There are a number of videos on Youtube of the music of the Canadian folk duo Ian and Sylvia, the credits of which say they are the work of Gary Larson. IF this is the same person, they are certainly worthy of inclusion. Toyokuni3 ( talk) 17:39, 1 January 2024 (UTC)
This article must adhere to the biographies of living persons (BLP) policy, even if it is not a biography, because it contains material about living persons. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libellous. If such material is repeatedly inserted, or if you have other concerns, please report the issue to this noticeboard.If you are a subject of this article, or acting on behalf of one, and you need help, please see this help page. |
This article is rated Start-class on Wikipedia's
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Gary Larson was featured in a WikiWorld cartoon. Click the image to the right for full size version. |
It is requested that an image or photograph be
included in this article to
improve its quality. Please replace this template with a more specific
media request template where possible.
The Free Image Search Tool or Openverse Creative Commons Search may be able to locate suitable images on Flickr and other web sites. |
It seems that Gary Larson is launching a new website for The Far Side. Here is a CNN article: https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/18/entertainment/gary-larson-far-side-return-trnd/index.html Gregorybard ( talk) 04:55, 19 December 2019 (UTC)
While I like the picture of Larson, why was the one of his home, taken by a Wikipedean so there is no copyright problem, removed? I think the castle part, especially the flag, is evocative of some of his cartoons and is therefore notable and encyclopedic. Is it considered an invasion of his privacy that he is known to value highly? Spalding 01:05, Jun 21, 2005 (UTC)
whoever deleted the picture is a pedantic moron with too much time on their hands just like everyone else here —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.224.217.39 ( talk • contribs) .
Since when do any public figures in North America have a right to privacy? User:Anthergene 14:10, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
I've just written almost the entire article of The Prehistory of the Far Side, and I've provided a link to it in the article on Larson. I wouldn't mind suggestions on it. Also, I recommend that the Larson article should have a list of Larson's books at the end, linkified if possible. marbeh raglaim 11:28, 7 September 2006 (UTC)
Seems to be an attempt at vandalism... since I could not find any references about the discovery of the "Bozone Layer" and it had a large number of spelling mistakes...
Is there any reliable information about the rash of Cease-and-Desist letters sent either by or on behalf of Larson? There's lots of webpages that purport to know someone who recieved a C&D letter, or that Larson is fanatical/obsessed with protecting his "children".
Does anyone know? This was the readon I came to the page.
--> He stopped in 1995 because he didn't want his cartoons to become overly repetitive or stale. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.120.161.6 ( talk) 15:08, 11 September 2009 (UTC)
Has it been confirmed that the letter Gary Larson received in the Jane Goodall incident had actually come from the real Jane Goodall Institute? The way I understand the relevant section in The Prehistory of the Far Side, the letter did not come from the Jane Goodall Institute at all, and that it was a prank someone had pulled on Gary Larson. Any comments? -- leuce 15:10, 10 March 2007 (UTC)
All the information we have on the incident come from Larson and Goodall themselves, who have never indicated that the letter was a hoax. Potentially it could have been a publicity stunt crafted by both of them, but without any evidence to support this theory we have little choice but to take them at their word. In any case I don't think the stance of the letter was implausible, even if it was misguided. marbeh raglaim 01:22, 28 March 2007 (UTC)
Having said that, I should add that I have had some doubts about the veracity of the protest letters Larson reprints in The Prehistory of the Far Side. Larson is a kidder if I ever saw one, and it's possible that more than a few of these "hate letters" are about as genuine as his purported childhood drawings from earlier in the book. (For example, am I to believe that someone really started an organization called the Cow Tools Fellows dedicated to solving the mystery of the notorious "Cow tools" cartoon?) marbeh raglaim 01:48, 28 March 2007 (UTC)
The biography section and the 'Far Side' section are extremely repetitive. The should be merged or content taken out so they do not overlap so much. Iammaggieryan 22:53, 7 June 2007 (UTC)
The biography section states that Larson graduated from high school and college in the same year (1972). Is this correct? 66.41.249.234 ( talk) 03:03, 9 January 2009 (UTC) M
The section on "There's a Hair in my Dirt" says "It is considered the completion of a Gary Larson collection". What does that mean? It makes no sense. One could certainly buy it before getting all of the Far Side collections. —Preceding unsigned comment added by WorldAsWill ( talk • contribs) 05:38, 18 March 2009 (UTC)
Although Larson being a Lutheran is implied by the "Lutheran pages" stuff at the top and bottom of the article, I could not find any actual mention of his Lutheranism in the Article itself? Masternachos ( talk) 01:17, 8 June 2009 (UTC)
This article - http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/9597 - says it was a heart attack, not cancer as stated here. 70.50.52.111 ( talk) 03:31, 19 December 2009 (UTC)
He can't have died in 2009, because he is quoted in a CNN interview in December of 2019. https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/18/entertainment/gary-larson-far-side-return-trnd/index.html Gregorybard ( talk) 04:57, 19 December 2019 (UTC)
I added a reference to a 2002 article in The Spectator which mentions Larson being attacked by Frodo. Doesn't give the year that it happened. I looked in news archives but I haven't found contemporary news articles on it (the wikipedia article currently says it happened in 1988.)-- Larrybob ( talk) 07:52, 19 January 2010 (UTC)
I think that, seeing as Larson is retired, the infobox should reflect this. I shall change this, unless anyone objects. ☠ QuackOfaThousandSuns ( Talk) ☠ 01:46, 22 January 2010 (UTC)
2 remarks.
Thanks Kvsh5 ( talk) 21:59, 13 February 2010 (UTC)
Exactly how does this photo look ok? It's a picture of some sort of plastic mannequin. -- Xyzzyplugh ( talk) 19:24, 26 November 2010 (UTC)
While I rarely deal with copyright issues on Wikipedia, I think this image may be ok per non-free content criteria. Assuming there are no copyright issues, it would be far more appropriate to change the caption than to delete the photo entirely and leave the article without any images at all. Our job as editors is to build an encyclopedia and while that often means removing inappropriate material it is often better to use small changes to improve an article rather than simply deleting anything that at first glance we might find offensive. Voiceofreason01 ( talk) 20:30, 26 November 2010 (UTC)
I distinctly recall that after retiring, Larson continued to write the occasional comic. A couple times a year, the New York Times Science section would publish a new cartoon of his. Also, every year one new cartoon would be the subject of a multiple choice question in the New York Biology Regents (a standardized test generally taken by 9th graders in New York State). One comic featured a square paramecium being wheeled away into an ambulance while regular shoe-shaped paramecia looked on in horror. I could not find references to these cartoons online, can anyone verify a source and put something in this article? Yserbius ( talk) 19:59, 20 August 2015 (UTC)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just added archive links to one external link on
Gary Larson. Please take a moment to review
my edit. If necessary, add {{
cbignore}}
after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add {{
nobots|deny=InternetArchiveBot}}
to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at {{
Sourcecheck}}
).
An editor has reviewed this edit and fixed any errors that were found.
Cheers.— cyberbot II Talk to my owner:Online 18:03, 22 March 2016 (UTC)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified one external link on Gary Larson. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
{{
dead link}}
tag to
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3724/is_200206/ai_n9130751/When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.
An editor has reviewed this edit and fixed any errors that were found.
Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot ( Report bug) 08:20, 24 May 2017 (UTC)
Photos of Larson himself seem to be short supply on the internet, although there is one here. So a free-use image may be difficult to find. There is a copy of a 1986 interview with Lynn Sherr on ABC's 20/20 on YouTube, but I guess this may be a copyright violation. Martinevans123 ( talk) 09:25, 4 June 2017 (UTC)
He turned 70 today, not 69. The Mo-Ja'al ( talk) 23:54, 14 August 2020 (UTC)
I tagged the sentence The Garylarsonus beetle carries his name.
with a {{
Better source}} back in 2017:
[1]. As I said in my |reason=
, that source (and many others others I've seen repeating this claim) doesn't provide any information as to who named it after him and when, or anything about the genus other than its name and namesake, and I also cannot find any such genus name in the literature about beetle taxonomy. I'm certainly skeptical that we should use "Curiosities of Biological Nomenclature" as a reliable source for this. The best sources I have been able to find in terms of providing specifics are:
Perhaps the ultimate scientific compliment will be paid to Larson by a Smithsonian Institution scientist who studies water beetles. Entomologist Paul Spangler said he is now trying to pick the perfect South American diving beetle from among several new species he collected on a recent expedition to name "larsoni" after the cartoonist.
— Hooper, Celia (April 19, 1987). "'Far Side' Strip has Smithsonian Rolling". Sun-Sentinel.
This exquisite specimen will be celebrated throughout the scientific world as the newest of 300,000 known beetle species - beetle garylarsonus. Museum of Natural History entomologist Paul Spangler is combing the darker, danker corners of the globe for just such a creature to commemorate the approaching extinction of the only cartoon on the funny pages he ever reads - The Far Side.
— Barry, John (January 23, 2015) [December 9, 1994]. ""Far Side" Fans Honor Cartoonist Gary Larson". Greensboro News and Record.
So at the very least this was only ever going to be a species of beetle, not a genus. And perhaps people took his intention to formally name a beetle species after him as a fact and just relayed that as such. He certainly intended to name a species after him, but I've been unable to find out if he actually succeeded in doing so. Not sure if we want to just strike the sentence altogether or mention his intention in doing so. Hopefully knowing it was a species and that it was Paul Spangler who wanted to do so helps people find more sources if they do exist. Umimmak ( talk) 06:09, 19 April 2021 (UTC)
References
Gary Larson was also the commencement speaker at WSU 1986- College of Science and Arts Charwkh ( talk) 01:58, 24 April 2023 (UTC)
There are a number of videos on Youtube of the music of the Canadian folk duo Ian and Sylvia, the credits of which say they are the work of Gary Larson. IF this is the same person, they are certainly worthy of inclusion. Toyokuni3 ( talk) 17:39, 1 January 2024 (UTC)