PAGE ONE NEWSMAKERS

The following illustrations and cameos have been special Page One highlights on this web site.

MAXINE WATERS Drawn 08.04.10 Veteran Congresswoman Maxine Waters has come out swinging against those who are alleging self-interest with respect to her career-long lobbying on behalf of minority banks, most of them small. The Los Angeles Democrat (35th District) was responding to suggestions that a personal investment by her husband in one of these banks compromised her position.
ROBERT BYRD - 1917-2010 ROBERT BYRD - 1917-2010 - West Virginia Senator-D Longest serving member of Congress in U.S. history
MEL GIBSON Has Mel Gibson hit a new low? ...only time will tell
BP Chairman Karl-Henric Svanberg, June 14, 2010 While CEO Tony Hayward remains under attack from President Obama and others, it is British Petroleum Chairman Karl-Henric Svanberg and his Board of Directors who must deal with angry shareholders, and save one of the largest corporate entities on earth.
Al and Tipper Gore announce their separation, June 1, 2010 Al Gore & Tipper Gore - Drawn 2nd June, 2010
SCOTT BROWN Massachusetts Senator R Drawn 02.22.10
Remembering DAVID LEVINE (1926-2009) "In caricature to me he was simply the greatest and still, to this day, it brings me a great deal of pleasure to look at his work." - Kerry Waghorn Caricaturist David Levine was a legend among editorial cartoonists and artists worldwide, a name synonymous with The New York Review of Books.  Levine (left) is shown in the photo with a Canadian journalistic superstar, Roy Peterson, a political cartoonist and the author of many books. Both are among Kerry's heroes. Peterson was instrumental in Kerry's early career at The Vancouver Sun, the mentor who helped hone the skills that attracted the attention of the San Francisco Chronicle and international syndication by Chronicle Features. Kerry remembers: "One day Roy handed me a book from his library Pens & Needles by David Levine saying he thought it something I should see.  It changed how I looked at caricature. David was a genius and a magician whose work never failed to excite me."
January 6, 2010 - Senior US intelligence officials are bracing themselves for possible dismissal after President Barack Obama delivered a blistering verdict on the “screw-up” that nearly resulted in 289 deaths on Christmas Day.
November 24, 2009 - Sarah Palin is back in the news, promoting her book Going Rogue. As he completed this latest caricature  November 23, 2009, Kerry commented, "she never seems to go away!"
CARLY FIORINA Former Hewlett Packard C.E.O., California Republican Senatorial Candidate November 9, 2009 - Sometimes controversial Carly Fiorina is now seeking the Republican nomination for a United States Senate seat in California. She rose to prominence as chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard from 1999 until 2005, when she was forced out. The merger with Compaq, which she had promoted, did not deliver the expected results. Since then Fiorina has served on a number of Boards of Directors and she was an economic adviser to the 2008 Presidential campaign of Senator John McCain.
EDDIE VEDDER, lead singer Pearl Jam Drawn 03.13.95 Pen, brush, ink, watercolor on illustration board From Billboard magazine,  about Pearl Jam's great new album BACKSPACER: President George W. Bush, who the band vilified in song and onstage for eight years, is gone. The group remains a huge touring draw and A-list festival headliner, having grossed nearly $42 million from 51 shows reported to Billboard Boxscore from 2006 to 2008. Vedder won a Golden Globe for his soundtrack to the 2007 movie "Into the Wild." Life is quieter on the homefront, too: four out of the five band members now have children.
IN MEMORIAM - Patrick Swayze (1952 - 2009)
September 5, 2009 The comic book legend Stan Lee, now 86, is still being urged to create new characters. As Chairman of Marvel Comics (now owned by Disney) he and his extraordinary team of artists created a long-list of icons, including: Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, X-Men, Hulk and Iron Man. Kerry drew this image for syndication September 19, 2000.
The Lion of the Senate - Edward M. Kennedy (1932-2009) Among Kerry's several caricatures of Senator Ted Kennedy, is this September 7, 1984 portrayal. This week's tribute from Boston Mayor Michael McGlynn speaks for us all: Senator Kennedy was the preeminent advocate for issues affecting ordinary citizens of our nation and our city. His legacy obviously includes efforts to protect civil and labor rights and to bolster educational initiatives for all including a career- long devotion to individuals with special needs. Internationally he sponsored efforts to oppose the spread of nuclear weapons. But perhaps his most notable position was advocacy for Health Care Reform – a battle being waged today because of his firm belief that every American deserves health care coverage as a right and not a privilege. ....... Ted Kennedy has been called the Lion of the Senate which is a tribute to his four decades of service to his state and nation. Despite his lofty status and world wide notoriety, the Senator never lost the ability to provide a personal touch when necessary. We have lost a legend; but now we must honor his legacy by keeping his vision of a kind and compassionate America alive for every man, woman and child regardless of wealth or status.
August 14, 2009 CHENEY DISCOVERS THAT BUSH WAS A LOSER New book will tell all, including a confession that one day Cheney retreated to a bathroom to cry, because the coffee latte he brought the President was under-appreciated.
June 25, 2009
May 27, 2009 CHESS PLAYER OR NUT CASE? Once again North Korea's Kim Jong Il's nuclear brinkmanship has brought global diplomacy to a standstill, focused entirely now on this otherwise insignificant, economically irrelevant patch of geography.
OBAMA CHALLENGES THE HEALTH INDUSTRY Will Barak Obama be the next political road kill for the American Medical Association, pharmaceutical companies, hospital corporations, the HMOs and many others who conspire to achieve national health outcomes rivalling third world countries, despite per capita health expenditures so far greater than any other nation that number 2 is not even in sight? A long-line of prominent politicians from Ted Kennedy to the Clintons have tried and failed to forge change and Americans remain the only citizens of the free world who live in constant fear of a health-related financial catastrophe. Obama talks about saving trillions. Kerry Waghorn illustrated a 2005 Canadian book Squandering Billions, which assaulted waste in Canada, but also focused on the United States lack of  universal medicare. www.squanderingbillions.net
April 7, 2009 Kerry captures newsmakers at different stages of their notoriety. Shown is his latest of Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu (February, 2009), who has been globally prominent for more than a generation, first capturing headlines as the late Prime Minister Menachem Begin’s Foreign Minister and subsequently his successor as PM. The son of a distinguished Cornell University professor, and graduate of an American high school whose university degrees include those from the Massachussetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, obviously intelligent with an articulate and commanding facility in the English language, Netanyahu became a world media favourite. His iconic stature was elevated by tragedy with the 1976 death of his commando brother, Colonel Yonni Netanyahu, at Entebbe Airport in Uganda, the hero of the mission that rescued 100 hostages. Unfortunately, Benjamin Netanyahu’s previous term as PM failed to live up to advance billing, unable to leverage his strength and intelligence into solid progress toward peace, as did his predecessor Begin. His conservative constituency expects him to be tough, but this second chance will not be scored on the basis of belligerence, but rather long-term peaceful solutions.
March 25, 2009 The courage of Mexican President Felipe Calderon and his country's justice officials, police and army is an inspiration to democracies everywhere. In the face of Calderon's determination, since being elected in 2006, to neutralize and destroy the drug lords' - several of them billionaires - and the culture of unspeakable crime and corruption, thousands have died. The dead are predominantly criminals, fighting among themselves for pieces of rapidly disintegrating empires. However, the price is high reflected in the multiple assassinations of public officials, judges, police and ordinary civilians. Despite this admirable assault on evil, western society must recognize that its so called "War on Drugs" since the early 20th century is likely the most unsuccessful war in human history and getting worse every day. Strategies to destroy the market, such as legalized marijuana and the clinical administration of narcotics to registered addicts, may be the only answer.
March 14, 2009 THE VOICES - the Barak Obama phenomenon and the Democratic Party triumphs in the November 2008 election create the impression that the right wing of U.S. politics is on life support, yet the most ardent voice of traditional American conservatism, Rush Limbaugh, is more strident and popular than ever. On the other hand, more Liberal commentators such as Oprah Winfrey enjoy undiminished power, public respect and wealth!
March 4, 2009 The astonishing talent of  guitar legend Jeff Beck will soon be on tour in the United States following triumphs in Australia, New Zealand and Japan. He is to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame April 4 for the second time (the first, as a member of The Yardbirds, where he succeeded Eric Clapton). He is considered to be among the greatest electric guitar players of all time, building fame with predominantly instrumental music and the admiration of accomplished performers, but his commercial success has not matched many other lesser talents. This Waghorn caricature was created in February 2009 to honour the return of this British music icon to North America.
February 4, 2009 Where are today's leaders! -  In the aftermath of yet another mideast conflict, it is appropriate to think back to the extraordinary leadership of Egypt's Anwar Sadat leading to the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty of 1979. The contribution of Israel's Menachem Begin, characterized as "superhawk" by the media,  was equally profound, but the greatest courage was that of Sadat, daring to break with the conventional Arab posture. He became Time Magazine's "Man of Year" for 1978 and shared with Begin, the Nobel Prize for Peace. In an interview, Time was perplexed that Sadat had refused to negotiate with Israeli peace advocates such as Yitzak Rabin, but then agreed to meet with the hawkish Begin. Time drew parallels between the two-men. Both had been branded "terrorists" in their earlier revolutionary days, and jailed by the British. Both had passionate friends and enemies among their own peoples. Sadat's reply was that he could not negotiate with weak people because they could not be trusted to keep their bargains. He saw Rabin as weak and Begin as strong. And then, he added: "I like to deal with a strong government and a strong man. In this respect I have to mention that I would have preferred to deal with the old lady [Golda Meir]. She has guts!" The central figures in these historic events, including President Jimmy Carter, were frequent Waghorn subjects, published in newspapers around the world.
January 22, 2009 HOLD-ON-FOLKS! - Those who think Barak Obama can wave a magic wand and move mountains should take a crash course in the ingenuity of America's political structure. The President is, for want of a better description, the CEO of the "executive branch" - the administration, but totally dependent upon the "legislative branch" - Congress (the House of Representatives and the Senate) - to pass his budget and policy agenda. Before the opposition Republicans can even get a crack at the White House proposals, President Obama and his team will need the help of powerful Democrats, the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi of California, and the majority leader in the Senate, Harry Reid of Nevada. Insiders say there already is friction between Obama appointees and Pelosi, who's agenda starts with a countdown to mid-term elections in 2010.
January 8, 2009 SENATORIAL REPLACEMENTS - Unlike British, Canadian and other parliamentary processes around the world that fill vacancies with special byelections, the United States Congress gives State Governors the power to appoint replacements when necessary to both the House of Representatives and the Senate. These appointees, after being seated, enjoy all the rights, privileges and responsibilities as those elected for the unexpired portion of the term remaining for the person they replace. Two vacancies in the Senate now exist - replacements for Hillary Clinton of New York and Barak Obama of Illinois. It is widely expected that Caroline Kennedy will be appointed by NY Governor David Paterson (himself unelected as Governor, elevated from Lieutenant-Governor after the prostitution scandal felled Eliot Spitzer). However, Illinois State politician Roland Burris has already received a cold reception at the Senate door, not as a criticism of himself, but the fact that he was appointed to replace Obama by the disgraced Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, now facing criminal charges for influence peddling. Can show biz ever top U.S. politics for sheer entertainment value? Here are Kerry's recent caricatures of both Kennedy and Burris.
Click to view newsmaker archives