University Place Tutors

About University Place

When you are seeking a tutor in Pierce County, Washington, an ideal place to look is the small city of University Place. Named for University of Puget Sound, a private liberal arts school in Tacoma who once ventured to build an additional campus on its land, University Place is a particularly interesting city with a rich history all its own. You might not know that at one point in time, University Place was the second largest film production site after Hollywood. Many silent films were produced there, including Eyes of the Totem, a film by Academy Award nominated director W. S. "One Take Woody" Van Dyke, which was believed to be lost forever until the year 2014, nearly 90 years after its release in 1927. The film starred Wanda Hawley, Tom Santschi, Anne Cornwall, Gareth Hughes, and Bert Woodruff, all prolific actors of the silent era with its director Van Dyke in an uncredited cameo role. It might also interest many people to know that Gary Larson, the cartoonist behind the highly influential, hilarious, and surprisingly educational (many teachers and tutors have been known to feature his cartoons in their classes and even on their tests) newspaper cartoon The Far Side was born and raised in University Place, where he graduated from Curtis Senior High School, one of eight public schools in the city's school district (in addition to the private K-12 Charles Wright Academy). A man of many talents, Gary Larson played banjo and guitar at Curtis High before going on to receive his Bachelor's Degree in Communication Studies from Washington State. Like many artists and writers raised in the Pacific Northwest, Larson's background in Washington led him to develop a strong respect for wildlife and conservation, as evidenced by many of his cartoons featuring anthropomorphized domestic and wild animals which allow readers to think about animals in ways that they otherwise never would. Another author from Pierce County is John J. Nance, a former Good Morning America reporter and commercial airline pilot who had the good fortune of having two of his novels adapted into miniseries which aired on ABC and NBC. Perhaps the better known of the two, Doomsday Virus, examines a much bleaker side of biology than Larson as it examines the life of a German wildlife videographer who inadvertently infects New York City with a lethal virus. On a lighter note, the city of University Place also features incredible scenery including illustrious views of nearby Mount Rainier and the Puget Sound.