No Philly Accent, But Smokey Bear Has Some Local Roots
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- You'll never hear him say 'Yo! Only you can prevent wildfires." But Smokey Bear does have a Philly pedigree.
Fifty-one-year-old Joe Kulka of Quakertown has been an artist all of his life and he's written and illustrated more than 20 books.
"What illustration comes down to, basically is, you're trying to either tell a story or convey information," Kulka said. "And that's what the students need to know -- how do you do this through images?"
But he jokes that the anxiety appeared when he started drawing for the U.S. Forest Service 12 years ago.
"The only time I ever got nervous was working on Smokey Bear," Kulka said. "It was like, 'Oh my God, this is Smokey Bear! I can't ruin Smokey Bear!'"
Kulka, an instructor at the Moore College of Art and Design, draws Smokey Bear and Woodsy Owl in posters, promotional materials and books given to schoolchildren. He says he grew up watching Smokey in TV public service announcements. For those of a certain age, it was a staple. Not so much anymore.
"The awareness isn't there anymore. So what they're doing is they're using a sort of grassroots campaign to being the awareness back," Kulka said. "Knowing that what I'm doing is hopefully helping to prevent a wildfire -- it's really gratifying."
