Comics legend Stan Lee was among those presented today at the White House with the National Medal of Arts.

The medal is the highest award given to artists and arts patrons by the U.S. government.

“I wonder what took so long,” the 85-year-old Lee told The Washington Post. “Say ‘He said it with a laugh’ or I’ll shoot you.”

Others receiving the honor today from President Bush included actress Olivia de Havilland, jazz pianist Hank Jones, sculptor Jesús Moroles, and songwriting brothers Robert B. and Richard M. Sherman, who penned It’s a Small World (After All) and other works for Disney.

The ceremony also included the presentation of the National Humanities Medal.

The 2008 National Medal of Arts Recipients

Olivia de Havilland, actress, Paris, France
Fisk Jubilee Singers, choral ensemble, Nashville, TN
Ford’s Theatre Society, theater and museum, Washington, DC
Hank Jones, jazz musician, NEA Jazz Master (1989), New York, NY
Stan Lee, comic book writer, producer, Los Angeles, CA
José Limón Dance Foundation, modern dance company and institute, New York, NY
Jesús Moroles, sculptor, Rockport, TX
The Presser Foundation, music patron, Haverford, PA
The Sherman Brothers, songwriting team, Los Angeles, CA and London, England

The National Medal of Arts, established by Congress in 1984, is awarded by the President and managed by the National Endowment for the Arts. Award recipients are selected based on their contributions to the creation, growth, and support of the arts in the United States. Each year, the Arts Endowment seeks nominations from individuals and organizations across the country. The National Council on the Arts, the Arts Endowment’s presidentially-appointed and Senate-confirmed advisory body, reviews the nominations and provides recommendations to the president, who selects the recipients.

Hurm.

I want to meet Stan Lee someday.

Kurt's a humbug.

Better hurry.

I'm surprised the Fisk Jubilee Singers didn't receive this honor earlier. They've been highly regarded for a long time now.

God, I hate that song. An award? Those guys should be beaten with a stick.

So, did Stan shoot this guy or what?

I don't think so. After all, we know what he said.




Now.

Stan took credit for writing It's a Small World and then claimed that he had played Maid Marion to Flynn's Robin Hood.

Bush did that to one-up Obama.

This is almost better than when Garry Trudeau and Art Spiegelman were awarded their Pulitzer Prizes. Stan's the man, glad to have met him!