Steve Benson
Stephen Reed Benson (born January 2, 1954 in Sacramento , California ) is a Pulitzer Prize- winning cartoonist and so-called editorial cartoonist (responsible for the front page design ) from the United States of America , where he works for The Arizona Republic .
Life
Benson is the grandson of former US Senator for Agriculture and Mormon Ezra Taft Benson .
Among Benson's most famous cartoons is the pictorial representation of a firefighter rescuing a child from the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City . The cartoon shows clear parallels to a well-known photo showing the unsuccessful rescue of one-year-old Baylee Almon by a firefighter. The kid in the cartoon says, "Please, no more killing ..." to which the firefighter, holding a sign that reads "Death penalty fanatics," replies, "Oh, quit your whining! " (Oh, stop whining!). This cartoon, published June 11, 1997 , disgruntled firefighters across the country. Baylee Almon's mother asked Benson to apologize for using the picture. However, Benson still refused when the paper printed an apology for the cartoon. Late in 1993 , Benson's departure from the Mormon Church caused an uproar after he claimed that church leaders were covering up his grandfather's dementia and leading Church members to believe that Ezra Taft Benson was still responsible for the day-to-day affairs of the Church. Benson had for some time passed information about his grandfather's condition to colleagues at The Arizona Republic and the related press . Benson and his wife, Mary Ann, initially left the LDS Church and now claim to have become "true Christians"; later they left organized religion entirely behind and Benson sees himself as an atheist and publicly takes a grim view of religious beliefs and those who practice them.
Award
In 2002 he was awarded the Emperor Has No Clothes Award from the Freedom From Religion Foundation .
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Benson, Steve |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Benson, Stephen Reed |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American cartoonist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 2nd January 1954 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Sacramento , California |