Courage and Coincidence

Gary Larson, the creator of the cartoon series “The Far Side”, was only earning $3 a cartoon when he first entered his chosen field.  He felt very lucky when he was given a regular stint with the Seattle Times, earning $15 a cartoon.

During a week’s vacation, Gary decided to pack his bravery and drive to San Francisco and the San Francisco Chronicle.  He left his portfolio with the receptionist and phoned several times a day to check if his work had been reviewed.  After only two days, Gary decided to return home.  He went to retrieve his portfolio, and discovered that the editor had looked through his work … and liked it!

Gary was thrilled and amazed. 

Gary Larson was even more amazed, and downright incredulous, when he returned home and found a letter waiting for him from the Seattle Times, dismissing Gary from their employment due to complaints about his bizarre cartoons.  

Gary felt touched by Fate.  He said “The timing of all this has always fascinated me.  I had never been very aggressive about pushing my work initially and my "in" with the Seattle Times had been very motivational.   I'll always be convinced that, had the Times mailed that letter out a week earlier, I never would have made the trip to San Francisco.  The wind would definitely have gone out of my sails.”

But Gary did go to San Francisco and on 1^st January 1980, a single-panel cartoon called “The Far Side” debuted in the San Francisco Chronicle, and Gary became extremely successful, with his humour loved by the world.
 

 
Lunar Far Side
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