Editing Matt Groening (section)

==Early life and education==
Matthew Abram Groening<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Wiebe |first1=Joel A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ZJPAAAAMAAJ&q=%22matthew+abram+groening%22 |title=The Groening-Wiebe Family, 1768-1974 |last2=Wiebe |first2=Vernon R. |last3=Wiebe |first3=Raymond F. |date=1974 |publisher=Joel A., Vernon R., Raymond F. Wiebe |language=en}}</ref> was born on February 15, 1954,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.biography.com/people/matt-groening-9542573 |title=Matt Groening| publisher=A&E Television Networks |access-date=January 8, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120729081705/http://www.biography.com/people/matt-groening-9542573|archive-date=July 29, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Matt-Groening |title=Matt Groening Biography |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |access-date=January 8, 2016 |archive-date=February 22, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160222044013/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Matt-Groening |url-status=live }}</ref> in [[Portland, Oregon]],<ref name="Oregonian">{{cite news |last=Baker |first=Jeff |title=Groening, rhymes with reigning |work= [[The Oregonian]] |date=March 9, 2004 |page=D1}}</ref> the [[birth order|middle]] of five children (older sister Patty and brother Mark were born in 1943 and 1950, and younger sisters Lisa and Maggie in 1956 and 1958, respectively). His [[Norwegian American]] mother, Margaret Ruth (''née'' Wiggum; March 23, 1919&nbsp;– April 22, 2013),<ref>{{cite news |url= http://obits.oregonlive.com/obituaries/oregon/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=164660979 |archive-url= https://archive.today/20130630021721/http://obits.oregonlive.com/obituaries/oregon/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=164660979 |url-status= dead |archive-date= June 30, 2013 |title= Margaret Ruth Groening Obituary |work= The Oregonian |date=May 6, 2013 }}</ref> was once a teacher, and his [[German Canadian]] father, [[Homer Groening|Homer Philip Groening]] (December 30, 1919&nbsp;– March 15, 1996),<ref>{{cite news |url= https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19960319/2319671/homer-groening-cartoonists-father-simpsons-inspiration |title= Homer Groening, Cartoonist's Father, 'Simpsons' Inspiration |work= [[The Seattle Times]] |date=March 19, 1996 |access-date=September 27, 2010 |archive-date=May 19, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519104246/http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19960319&slug=2319671 |url-status=live }}</ref> was a filmmaker, [[advertiser]], writer and cartoonist.<ref name="real people">{{cite news| url= http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/entertainment/2003818762_realsimpsons030.html |title=The real people behind Homer Simpson and family |access-date=October 31, 2008 |author=Rose, Joseph |date=August 3, 2007 |work= The Oregonian |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080103120252/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/entertainment/2003818762_realsimpsons030.html |archive-date= January 3, 2008}}</ref><ref name= "prodigy">{{cite web|title=Matt Groening Q&A (1993) |publisher=[[Prodigy (online service)|Prodigy]] |url=http://www.snpp.com/other/interviews/groening93b.html |date=June 1993 |access-date=January 14, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070510155119/http://www.snpp.com/other/interviews/groening93b.html |archive-date=May 10, 2007}}</ref> Homer, born in [[Main Centre, Saskatchewan]], Canada, grew up in a [[Plautdietsch]]-speaking family.<ref name="menno">{{cite journal |last=Dueck |first=Dora |title= Homer Simpson has Canadian Mennonite roots |journal=Canadian Mennonite |volume=6 |issue=19 |url=http://legacy.canadianmennonite.org/vol06-2002/6-19/artsculture.html |date=October 7, 2002 |access-date= January 7, 2013 |archive-date=October 4, 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131004234430/http://legacy.canadianmennonite.org/vol06-2002/6-19/artsculture.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Groening's grandfather, Abram A. Groening, was a professor at [[Tabor College (Kansas)|Tabor College]], a [[Mennonite Brethren]] liberal arts college in [[Hillsboro, Kansas]], before moving to Albany College (now known as [[Lewis and Clark College]]) in Oregon in 1930.<ref name="tabor">{{cite journal |last=Suderman |first=Dale |title=Hillsboro, Home of the Simpsons. |journal=Hillsboro Free Press |date= August 15, 2007 |url= http://www.hillsborofreepress.com/content/view/18085505/94/ |access-date= November 4, 2007 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080828065710/http://www.hillsborofreepress.com/content/view/18085505/94/ |archive-date=August 28, 2008}}</ref>

Groening was raised in Portland<ref name=officialsite>{{cite web |url= http://www.thesimpsons.com/actors/index.htm |title=Matt Groening Creator and Executive Producer [Bio] |website= thesimpsons.com |access-date=March 4, 2007 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070310215122/http://www.thesimpsons.com/actors/index.htm |archive-date=March 10, 2007}}</ref> and attended Ainsworth Elementary School<ref>{{cite web |first=Charlotte |last= Middlehurst |url= http://www.timeoutshanghai.com/features/Books__Film-Book_features/5644/Matt-Groening-interview.html |title=Matt Groening interview |work=Time Out Shanghai |date=March 12, 2012 |access-date= January 8, 2016 |archive-date=January 26, 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160126151324/http://www.timeoutshanghai.com/features/Books__Film-Book_features/5644/Matt-Groening-interview.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Lincoln High School (Portland, Oregon)|Lincoln High School]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Joseph |last=Rose |url=http://www.oregonlive.com/movies/2012/05/the_simpsons_map_of_portland_w.html |title='The Simpsons' map of Portland (What other proof do you need that they're Oregonians?) |work= The Oregonian |date=May 4, 2012 |access-date=January 8, 2016 |quote=Lincoln High School, Southwest 18th Avenue just south of Salmon Street. Groening drew and signed a sidewalk portrait of Bart Simpson in wet concrete outside his alma mater. "Class of 1972" appears next to Bart as he strikes his classic "Don't have a cow, man!" pose. |archive-date=January 28, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128145847/http://www.oregonlive.com/movies/2012/05/the_simpsons_map_of_portland_w.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Following his high school graduation in 1972,{{sfnp|Groth|1991}} Groening attended the [[Evergreen State College]] in [[Olympia, Washington]],<ref name="evergreen">{{cite web |url=http://www.evergreen.edu/alumni/writersproject/mattgroening.htm |title= Matt Groening at Evergreen |access-date=August 30, 2007 |work= evergreen.edu | publisher= [[Evergreen State College]] |url-status= dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926234731/http://www.evergreen.edu/alumni/writersproject/mattgroening.htm |archive-date=September 26, 2007}}</ref> a liberal arts school that he described as "a [[hippie]] college, with no grades or required classes, that drew every weirdo in the Northwest."{{sfnp|Lloyd|1999}} He served as the editor of the campus newspaper, ''The Cooper Point Journal'', for which he also wrote articles and drew cartoons.{{sfnp|Groth|1991}} Groening graduated with a [[Bachelor of Arts]] in journalism in 1977.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Matt Groening &#124; Biography, Cartoons, & Facts |encyclopedia=Britannica.com |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Matt-Groening |access-date=June 23, 2022 |date=May 18, 2023 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160222044013/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Matt-Groening |archive-date=February 22, 2016}}</ref> He befriended fellow cartoonist [[Lynda Barry]] after discovering that she had written a fan letter to [[Joseph Heller]], one of Groening's favorite authors, and had received a reply.<ref name="cartoon">{{cite comic |cartoonist=Groening, Matt |strip=[[Life in Hell]] |date=January 14, 2000 |syndicate=Acme Features Syndicate |panel=5–6}}</ref> Groening has credited Barry with being "probably [his] biggest inspiration."<ref name= "motherjones">{{cite web |title=Matt Groening |work=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]] |url= https://www.motherjones.com/media/1999/03/matt-groening |last=Doherty |first=Brian |date=March–April 1999 |access-date=January 14, 2007 |archive-date=April 16, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416213422/http://www.motherjones.com/media/1999/03/matt-groening |url-status=live }}</ref> He first became interested in cartoons after watching the Disney animated film ''[[One Hundred and One Dalmatians]]''<ref>{{cite AV media |people=Groening, Matt; Mirkin, David; Scully, Mike; Anderson, Bob |date=2005 |work=The Simpsons The Complete Sixth Season | title= Commentary for the episode "Two Dozen & One Greyhounds" |medium= DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> as well as [[Monty Python]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Matt Groening says Monty Python influenced new show Disenchantment |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/on-demand/2018/07/30/matt-groening-says-monty-python-influenced-new-show-disenchantment/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190822172811/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/on-demand/2018/07/30/matt-groening-says-monty-python-influenced-new-show-disenchantment/ |archive-date=August 22, 2019 |access-date=August 22, 2019 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref>