I have a trophy in my office called the "Official Star-Bull Honorary Award for 'Good Conscience.' '' This memento consists of a large, mounted photo of artist Kevin Hand scratching his chin and looking indecisive. Whispering in one ear is a tiny caricature of me dressed as an angel. Whispering in the other ear is Hand's fellow artist, Bryant Fukutomi, dressed as a devil. We'll miss this steady Hand
When he presented it to me at the staff Christmas party in 1991, Hand explained that his award-winning graphics on the 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, which had just been published a week earlier, wouldn't have been as good if I hadn't prodded him to do his best - as if Kevin Hand ever needed prodding to produce excellent artwork.
Since he arrived in Honolulu nine years ago, one thing has always been consistent: Whatever an editor expected him to do with an assignment, Hand always came up with something better.
After this week, Kevin's going on to bigger things as a staff artist at the Chicago Tribune. We have mixed feelings about this at the Star-Bulletin. Nobody wants to lose one of the best creative talents on our staff, but in a family you always want to see your brothers and sisters reach their potential.
Kevin is family. We're glad we got to spend some time with him and expect he'll do well in the big city.
Knowing Kevin, he'll do better than that.