Political Quotes

“I rise today to reclaim Johnny Carson as a loyal Iowan and a favorite son of the great State of Iowa, who migrated to the West across the Missouri River and made his home over on the Nebraska side. Iowa has much to be proud about, and Johnny Carson is one of those rare gems that will certainly be missed. Johnny was born as John William Carson on October 23, 1925, in Corning, Iowa, down in mighty Adams County to a Homer, ``Kit,'' and his mother Ruth Carson. A few years later he attended kindergarten in Red Oak, Iowa. He has not forgotten his roots at Red Oak either. No comic has been able to duplicate the comfortable format that Carson emitted to his audiences nightly. As Harold Meyerson puts it, he was the ``country boy who had become the urban hipster.'' In Corning, Iowa, everyone knows everyone, and Johnny brought that same small town feeling to Americans who watched him every evening. And although he moved to Nebraska, Carson never forgot his Iowa roots. His generosity through the John W. Carson Foundation will be long remembered in Iowa.”