Editing Zonker Harris (section)

==Lifestyle==
Zonker spent several years as a live-in [[babysitting|babysitter]] for B.D. and [[List of Doonesbury characters#Main characters|Boopsie]]'s daughter Samantha in [[Connecticut]]. As they live on the former Walden Commune, Zonker was reunited with his beloved puddle. He contributed to the household by working at ''McFriendly's'', apparently a [[portmanteau]] of [[McDonald's]] and [[Friendly's]] restaurants.

In 2012, with the [[Cannabis policy of Colorado|legalization of marijuana in Colorado]], Zonker and his nephew Zipper began to conceive a plan to move to Boulder and start a marijuana farm. They did this in early 2014.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bloom |first1=Steve |title='Doonesbury' Goes to Colorado |url=https://www.celebstoner.com/news/celebstoner-news/2013/03/29/doonesbury-goin-to-colorado/ |access-date=December 31, 2024 |work=Celeb Stoner |date=November 28, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Brennan |first1=Charlie |title='Doonesbury' mainstay Zonker eyeing marijuana grow 'outside Boulder' |url=https://www.dailycamera.com/2013/04/23/doonesbury-mainstay-zonker-eyeing-marijuana-grow-outside-boulder/ |url-access=subscription| access-date=2016-08-05 |work=Boulder Daily Camera |date=2013-04-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Bloom |first1=Steve |title='Doonesbury' Celebrates Legal Marijuana in Colorado |url=https://www.celebstoner.com/news/celebstoner-news/2014/01/01/doonesbury-celebrates-legal-marijuana-in-colorado/ |access-date=2024-12-31 |work=Celeb Stoner |date=2014-01-05}}</ref>

[[File:Zonker Harris Access Way.jpg|thumb|The Zonker Harris Access Way in Malibu, CA]]

Occasionally he travels back to his birthplace of [[California]] to commune with "Old Surfer Dude", an elderly man who preaches the virtues of the [[surfing|surfer]] lifestyle in a style reminiscent of both a [[Chinese martial arts|kung fu]] master and [[Yoda]]. He has been in conflict for many years with [[David Geffen]] for denying the public access to his beaches, in conflict with California law. Geffen finally relented in 2005. There is an access way in [[Malibu, California|Malibu]] named after Zonker.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Nugent |first1=Benjamin |title=Access Malibu |url=https://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/May-June-2003/scene_nugent_mayjun03.msp |access-date=2024-12-31 |work=Legal Affairs |date=May–June 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220610203741/https://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/May-June-2003/scene_nugent_mayjun03.msp |archive-date=2022-06-10 | url-status=dead}}</ref>

Zonker is entirely uninterested in [[sex]] and [[Romance (love)|romance]] and has never pursued a romantic relationship. He claims that this is because his heart was broken by a girl when he was ten years old, and that this convinced him that love was not worth the trouble.

Zonker often supports political causes that are out of the mainstream. Zonker voted for [[Ross Perot]] in 1992 and worked for his Uncle Duke's 2000 presidential campaign. In a March 2010 strip, he told a Tea Party supporter that he has "always stuck it to the man".

[[Wesleyan University]] students hold an unofficial yearly event in April called Zonker Harris Day, celebrating psychedelic music and culture, with the Doonesbury character as a mascot.  [[MGMT]] are among the acts to have performed at Zonker Harris Day: in 2003, while the members were undergraduates at Wesleyan,<ref name=mgmt_wesleyan_argos>{{cite web|url =http://www.wesleyan.edu/argus/archives/apr132004/dateyear/f4.html|title = Weekly Wes Celeb: ''The magmo''|last = Landerman|first = Jessie|publisher = [[Wesleyan University|Wesleyan Argus]]|date = April 13, 2004|access-date = July 27, 2007|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927070512/http://www.wesleyanargus.com/article.php?article_id=2053|archive-date = September 27, 2007|df = mdy-all}}</ref> the band performed a set including a version of their later hit [[Kids (MGMT song)|"Kids"]].<ref name=musicradar_mgmt>{{cite web|url=https://www.musicradar.com/artists/those-people-attending-had-no-idea-they-were-blessed-with-this-exclusive-performance-5-years-ahead-of-the-release-of-the-song-mgmt-once-played-a-2000s-classic-to-a-tiny-crowd-in-newly-found-footage|last=Price|first=Andy|title="Those people attending had no idea they were blessed with this exclusive performance 5 years ahead of the release of the song": MGMT once played a 2000s classic to a tiny crowd in newly-found footage|date=5 December 2024|access-date=22 December 2024|website=Musicradar}}</ref> In early 2008, the new Wesleyan University president, [[Michael S. Roth]], declared Zonker Harris Day to be "stupid", and the Residential Life office officially opposed its "hippie-druggie" image.  Funding for the event was banned pending a new title.  After prolonged disagreement, students renamed the event "Ze Who Shall Not Be Named Day".  With a new name, the former Zonker Harris Day was held as usual on April 19, 2008.  The students protested what they viewed to be unnecessary and irrelevant censorship, while the administration maintained that Zonker Harris Day gave the university a poor image.<ref>{{cite web |title=Wesleying: Search for 'zonker harris day' |url=https://www.wesleying.org/?s=zonker+harris+day |access-date=2024-12-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508195601/https://www.wesleying.org/?s=zonker+harris+day |archive-date=2016-05-08 |url-status=dead}}</ref> A series of strips in late 2010 parodied this, with Zonker (having been told of the event's renaming) debating whether or not to personally intervene, especially in light of the major conflict on his calendar in April – the [[Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton|Royal Wedding of Prince William]]. In 2011, the name of the festival was reinstated.<ref>{{cite web|last=Schwartz|first=Amanda|title=Zonker Harris Day Makes a Comeback|date=25 March 2011 |url=http://wesleyanargus.com/2011/03/25/zonker-harris-day-makes-a-comeback/|publisher=Wesleyan Argus}}</ref>

The [[University of Miami]] named the [[scout team]] the Zonkers.{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}