Although Larson was initially excited to be published, he was only paid 3 a cartoon. Eventually, he stopped and became an investigator for the local humane society. In 1979, a reporter for the "Seattle Times" who had met Larson while investigating "pony abuse" showed "Nature's Way" to her editor. It was revived and began appearing in the Saturday edition of the paper. Larson was paid 15 a cartoon. After about a year, Larson took a vacation from his humane society work to drive to San Francisco at the encouragement of his girlfriend. In what he called a "daring plan to expand this 'publication empire'", Larson left a portfolio with his work at the headquarters of the "San Francisco Chronicle". After several days, Larson was informed that editor Stan Arnold wanted to speak with him. Arnold was impressed by his work and mentioned that, should the "Chronicle" be interested in Larson's work, it could become syndicated.