Editing Gary Larson (section)

==Early life and education==
Larson was born and raised in [[University Place, Washington]], in suburban [[Tacoma, Washington|Tacoma]],<ref name=wild /> the son of Verner, a [[car salesman]], and Doris, a [[secretary]].<ref name=walk/> He graduated from [[Curtis Senior High School]] in University Place and from [[Washington State University]] in [[Pullman, Washington|Pullman]]<ref name=wild /> with a degree in communications.<ref name=unsenff>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4CYuAAAAIBAJ&pg=2353%2C3257744 |work=Idahonian |location=(Moscow) |last=Olsen |first=Ken |title=Larson to give '90 WSU grads unusual sendoff |date=April 24, 1990 |page=1A}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Angier|first1=Natalie|title=An Amateur of Biology Returns to His Easel|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/28/science/aficionado-of-science-gary-larson-an-amateur-of-biology-returns-to-his-easel.html|work=The New York Times|date=28 April 1998|page=F5|department=Science Times|volume=147|issue=51,141}}</ref> During high school and college, he played jazz guitar<ref name=Salon99 /> and banjo.<ref name=wild />

Larson said his family has "a morbid sense of humor",<ref name=wild /> and that he was influenced by the "paranoid" sense of humor of his older brother, Dan.<ref name=walk>{{cite web |last=Ferguson |first=Kelly |url=https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/17358/50-reasons-subscribe-mentalfloss-45-gary-larson |title=A Walk on the Far Side: The Life and Times of Gary Larson |date=November 12, 2007 |work=[[Mental Floss]] }}</ref> Dan played [[prank]]s on Gary, for example by taking advantage of his fear of monsters under the bed by waiting in the closet for the right moment to pounce. Dan "scared the hell out of me" whenever he could,<ref name=wild /> Gary said, but Dan also nurtured Gary's love of scientific knowledge. They caught animals in [[Puget Sound]] and placed them in [[terrarium]]s in the basement, and also made a small desert ecosystem.<ref name=walk/>