You’ve probably never heard of Tom Kenny but, unless you’ve been living under Patrick Star’s rock, you’ve definitely heard him. Tom Kenny is the voice of Spongebob and Gary the snail, Dog from “CatDog,” the mayor and narrator in the “Powerpuff Girls,” Heffer from “Rocko’s Modern Life,” and many more cartoon character favorites. He also appeared in the Smashing Pumpkins music video for “Tonight, Tonight,” made a vocal cameo on a Weird Al tune, and co-wrote and recorded a full length Spongebob album with Andy Paley. Kenny currently provides the voices for Ice King in Cartoon Network’s “Adventure Time with Finn and Jake,” some “Scooby-Doo!” characters, and Quantum Ray in “Cosmic Quantum Ray.”

I met Tom Kenny during his appearance at a local community college when I was 12 and have cherished the torn piece of notebook paper he signed for me ever since. He’s a humble, hilarious, and good-natured dude and he’s worthy of some extra appreciation.