.png)
3 weeks ago
2
Last week, I received an inadvertently hilarious note from a (now former) paid subscriber to The Leap. Inadvertent, for them; they, I’m sure, intended it as serious rebuke. But perfectly timed and perfectly appropriate from my perspective.
You see, the reader was offended by my inclusion of a certain Gary Larson cartoon in my discussion of Asher Perlman’s new book. They had found the image offensive and scolded me for stooping to that level. Just in case anyone missed it, here’s the offending drawing:
Can I paste it again, for good measure? I won’t. But I really want to. And, dear reader, every time I push on a door that says Pull or pull on a door that says Push, I will think fondly on the Midvale School for the Gifted. I regret nothing.
The timing of the note was especially fitting. Just a day or so after the un-subscription, Jane Goodall, that iconic legend of all legends, died. Unrelated to humor and The Far Side, you may be thinking—but, as my friend, the writer (and Substacker) extraordinaire Austin Kleon, reminded me, all too related.
You see, back in 1987, Larson created what has become one of his most famous drawings, featuring Jane Goodall and two chimpanzees.
Right after the cartoon ran, Larson received a less-than-pleasant letter: The Jane Goodall Institute was incensed and threatened litigation. Larson quoted from the missive in his book, “The Prehistory of the Far Side”:
To refer to Dr. Goodall as a tramp is inexcusable—even by a self-described “loony” as Larson. The cartoon was incredibly offensive and in such poor taste that readers might well question the editorial judgment of running such an atrocity in a newspaper that reputes to be supplying news to persons with a better than average intelligence.
Larson greatly admired Goodall and was saddened that he had inadvertently offended her. While he was contemplating what to do, he received another letter, this one, far more pleasant: The National Geographic Society wanted to reprint the image in their centennial edition. Well.
When the magazine heard why Larson had to turn down their request, they were stunned—and an enterprising editor decided to reach out to Dr. Goodall herself. Turns out, she absolutely loved the cartoon. She thought it was hilarious. In her own words, it made her “guffaw.” She had no idea that the institute that bore her name had sent the letter that it did—and not only did she give her blessing to reprint the cartoon in National Geographic, but she then licensed it for use on a series of T-shirts to raise funds for her conservation and advocacy work.
Goodall and Larson went on to become friends. She gave him tours of her lab, talked about her research, and even hosted him at the Gombe National Park in Tanzania. In 1995, Goodall ended up writing the foreword to one of The Far Side’s many collections, when Larson was retiring the comic. After heaping praise on Larson and his Goodall cartoon, she did admit that there was one thing wrong with it:
The only real problem it has given me is the sheer number of copies of the thing that people have sent me—and I never like to throw them away. I have enough now to paper a small room. The trouble is, there is only one room small enough—and that doesn’t seem quite polite!
Imagine that. Toilet humor from Dr. Goodall herself. What is the world coming to.
Goodall fondly remembered their time together in Tanzania—and she explained why she thought Larson’s work was as impactful as it was brilliant.
In the end, Jane Goodall reminds us of what lies behind brilliance of all kind, from her own, to Larson’s: the ability not just to laugh, but to laugh at yourself, to have the knowledge and the perspective to understand just how absurd this whole life thing really is.
“Gary,” Goodall addresses him. “You teach us to poke fun at ourselves, using the most primitive animals to point out the absurdities of our own behavior. Bang on target.” Through Larson’s work, she concludes, “Thousands more people as yet unborn will be helped to relate to the ironies and the tragedies, the joyfulness and the richness, of life on earth.” Long live The Far Side. Long live humor. And long live the wisdom of Jane Goodall.
