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Omaha editorial cartoonist gains national attention for Pres. Bush tribute

Posted at 3:22 PM, Dec 04, 2018
and last updated 2018-12-05 07:40:45-05

OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — A cartoon memorializing President George H.W. Bush by Jeff Koterba, Omaha World Herald, is getting national attention.

It's a picture of Uncle Sam looking up at the stars in the sky that spell out George H.W. Bush.

Koterba said he was with a friend when the news of Bush’s death broke.

Whenever he memorializes someone in a cartoon, he tries to avoid the typical "pearly gates."

His friend mentioned a thousand points of light, which got him thinking of a way to illustrate that.

"I could have drawn a thousand candles or depicted the idea in a different way but to me the stars seemed more permanent,” Koterba said.

He said he wanted his cartoon to be a light in our current politically divided times.

"Whenever I can find something positive to draw about I will do that,” Koterba said. “To be able to show Uncle Sam gazing upwards seemed like a really positive thing to me that I could draw."

Koterba’s cartoon has been published in the Washington Post and USA Today. He said he is thrilled to know folks attending Bush’s memorial service may have seen it.