'USA Today' Gets Rare Face-to-Face Interview With Gary Larson

By: E&P Staff USA Today nabbed a rare interview with Gary Larson because "The Far Side" creator wanted to talk about wildlife.

Larson has done very occasional e-mail and phone interviews (including several with E&P over the years), but he agreed to meet USA Today face to face. No photos allowed, though, because Larson wants to remain anonymous in his Seattle hometown.

One thing Larson discussed in the USA Today interview -- posted late last night and updated this morning -- was his new "Far Side" page-a-day calendar. All of his calendar royalties, as E&P reported yesterday, will benefit wildlife-preservation efforts by Conservation International. The USA Today article noted that those royalties could be about $2 million.

"Larson's cartoons abound with animals: elephants, wildebeest, frogs, bears, horses, salmon, birds, alligators," said the article. "The world, however, hasn't been as kind to such creatures. Larson's hope that his work might aid in ending the destruction being wrought upon them and their habitats, especially in Southeast Asia, has brought him a tiny way out of retirement [with the calendar]."

Larson told USA Today's Elizabeth Weise that he "can't imagine how we'll be remembered by future generations" if wildlife continues to be decimated by the actions of mankind.

"The Far Side" comic had nearly 2,000 newspaper clients via Universal Press Syndicate when Larson ended it in 1995.