The Greatest Nebraskan?

In television shows across the world, there's been a "Greatest [citizen from that country]" poll. In the UK, it was Churchill; in Canada, it was Tommy Douglass, the first and foremost advocate of socialized medicine in that country.


A "Greatest American" poll would be stupid. But a list of the greatest from each state would be interesting. If we restricted each state's list to those who grew up in that state -spent most of their childhood/young adulthood there (so that movie stars would not all be "from" California) - we'd create an interesting an informative list in each state.

And in that instance, Johnny Carson, though born in Iowa, and who made his mark in New York and California, is arguably the greatest Nebraskan. His impact on the popular culture is larger than we realize, and his talent - he could sing, dance, and perform sketch comedy in addition to write, tell jokes, and interview - is perhaps the greatest television has known.

Johnny Carson, RIP

Yahoo! News - Late-Night King Johnny Carson Dies at 79