USAToday: Gary Larson is drawn to the wild side

Larson interview at USATODAY.com: "Sightings of retired Far Side cartoonist Gary Larson are about as rare as the exotic vipers, rhinos and cheetahs that graced his daily strip for its 15-year run from 1980 to 1995.

Like deer avoiding gun-toting hunters in his panels ('Do I know this guy?. .. I've got to think,' one says as he hides behind a tree), Larson is elusive prey. He rarely gives interviews. He refused to have his picture taken for this article, preferring to remain anonymous in his home of Seattle, where his T-shirt-and-jeans wardrobe give him protective camouflage against would-be fans who might beg him to pick up his pen again.

But he agrees to endure a face-to-face interview ('Going into it, my only goal was to survive,' he says later in an e-mail) for something he cares deeply about — wildlife. Larson's cartoons abound with animals: elephants, wildebeest, frogs, bears, horses, salmon, birds, alligators. 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."