Some background on this comic:

Transcript:

A few days after this cartoon was published, my syndicate received a very indignant letter from someone representing the Jane Goodall Institute. Not only did my syndicate and I both get read the Riot Act, there was a vague implication that litigation over this cartoon might be around the corner.

I was horrified. Not so much from a fear of being sued (I just couldn’t see how this cartoon could be construed as anything but silly), but because of my deep respect for Jane Goodall and her well-known contributions to primatology. The last thing in the world I would have intentionally done was offend Dr. Goodall in any way.

Before I had a chance to write my apology, another complication arose. The National Geographic Society contacted my syndicate and expressed a desire to reprint the cartoon in a special centennial issue of their magazine. My editor, aware of what had just occurred, declined, explaining why.

Apparently, whoever it was that sent the inquiry from National Geographic, was shocked. They told my editor that “that doesn’t sound like the Jane Goodall we know.” They did some checking themselves, and an interesting fact was eventually discovered: Jane Goodall loved the cartoon. Furthermore, she was totally unaware that any of this “stuff” was going on. Some phone calls were made, and the cartoon was reprinted in the centennial issue of National Geographic magazine.

I’ve since had an opportunity to visit Dr. Goodall at her research facility in Gombe.

Everything’s cool.

“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 judgement of running such an atrocity in a newspaper that reputes to be supplying news to persons with a better than average intelligence. The cartoon and its message were absolutely stupid.”

—Excerpt from the above-mentioned letter that started the ruckus