Mr Mackins thread about his gran-daughter's trip to Nepal had me reliving a bit of my past.  When I was 13, my Godfather wrote to me asking who my heros were.  Of course I had none, never considered the idea. 

But he got me thinking as he meant to, and I started to develop a list.  Most of mine are adventurers, Mountaineers, sailors, people who have inspired me.
A few are Eric Shipton, George Lowe, Hillary, Reinhold Messner, Knox-Johnson, Ellen MacArthur.. Others are engineers Brunel, Wright Brothers,  etc

I tend not to look up to successful business people, or politicians, writers or artists. Thats sad really.  Its because I do not understand them I think.

Who are yours?

Chuck Norris

Ma Lin

Plato
Mahatma Gandhi
Dalai Lama
Bob Dylan
R.C. Jordan

QuoteFact: Chuck Norris can divide by zero.

My heros span people who's names you would recognize, but I have just as many that are just people that made strong impressions on me; people who were charmed. Maybe 20 people all together.

pfftt, mackin, you're so full of it.

Interesting question, Rupert. It caught me off-guard just as it did you years ago.  Like you, I can't think of any. But I do want to comment that the word "hero" has been greatly devalued here in the US.   Every fireman, every soldier is portrayed as a hero here.   Bullshit.

>I tend not to look up to successful business people, or politicians, writers or artists. Thats sad really.

I'm the same.  Except I've come to loathe politicians.

I was just thinking of this today actually. In particular, I was thinking of my grandfather....

Heros?

my grandfather* for starters
my wife too I should mention (won't go into that one, but if Buckworks is here, she knows).
Medgar Evers and everyone who ever marched calmly for their rights as the police attacked them with dogs and firehoses and truncheons
Woody Guthrie ("This machine kills fascists")
Galen Clark
John Muir
Achilles
Bill Watterson (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Watterson#Fight_against_merchandising_the_cartoon_characters )
Pete Seeger

*My grandfather was a very quiet man, conservative and very religious, but never, ever preachy. My mom says that when she was four, in 1938 when worldwide anit-semitism was cresting, a Jewish family was going to move onto their street and the neighbors all wanted to sign a petition to keep them out. My grandfather tried to stop it. My mom says other kids were hassling her because "those awful Jews are going to move in because of your father." She came home crying one day and asked him why he was going to let the awful Jews move in and he said "You're too young too understand this, but when you're older, you'll see that I'm right and everyone else is wrong. They're no different from us and they have the same rights as us." Thirty years later, when the first black family wanted to move onto my parents street, my parents were the ones who quashed the petition, my mom still carrying the lesson her dad had taught her as a little girl.

I could go on, but you get the idea.

I think the word 'hero' has a special meaning, because all the definitions don't really capture the nuance of the word. To some extent that's because it's not what the hero says, or does, or even is, that sets him apart from others; it's that somewhere deep down inside, I want to BE him. That I see a quality of myself that I cherish and would like to develop, but this person has an abundance of it, and it captures my undivided attention, as if I were in a trance.

...that's why I said 'charmed'. My heros mesmerize me. I lose myself in them. That's why I love them:)

(sorry double post .... keep getting errors)

John Adams
George Washington
Abraham Lincoln
Gen. Joshua Chamberlain
Gen. George Thomas

There are so many others its hard to name them all.  Many tend to be military men because I read a lot of military history. 

Gon Dogboy.. who?

QuoteTo some extent that's because it's not what the hero says, or does, or even is

For me, the essence of a hero someone who has the vision to see what is right and wrong and has the courage to act on that even when deeply at odds with the society around them.

Quote from: Brad on August 28, 2013, 12:37:35 PM
Many tend to be military men because I read a lot of military history.  

Mine tend to be anti-military men for the same reason ;-). And for the reason I just mentioned above.  Two examples:

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, theologian and one of the first Christians to stand up to Hitler and die for it i the death camps.
- Martin Niemoller - a pastor and early Nazi supporter who eventually came out against Hitler and spent 1937 to 1945 in concentration camps

Along the same lines...

- Bartolome Las Casas, Spanish theologian and the first anti-slavery activist in the Spanish Empire in the 1500s

- Sebastian Castellio - the first European to make a strong argument for religious tolerance in an era when taking that stand had serious consequences (Castellio lost his livelihood and was banished from Geneva at the insistence of John Calvin).

- Nelson Mandela, not for his resistance to white SA, courageous as it was, but for his great leadership in prison and upon release - refusing release unless all were released, refusing revenge.

QuoteEric Shipton, George Lowe, Hillary, Reinhold Messner

In the mountaineering world, I have to go for Bonatti.

Here is a dozen or so off the top of my head.  I'm sure there are several more that I forgot that are just as important...

Normal Joes
- Jim Vaughn, extremely skilled jack of all trades - truck driver, heavy equipment operator, framing to finish carpentry, anything involving fabrication, construction or repair - anything.  Humble. Quiet. Badass. Had short cropped hair and wore worn cowboy boots, and t-shirts with Lucky Stripes rolled in the sleeve.
- Clint Hallam, dog musher, bull rider.  Tough man, tough dogs, tough competitor.
- Joao Moncaio, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, philosopher with ability to summarize entire concepts into a few simple words that ring true and obvious.


Famous People
- Sir Thomas Moore - commitment to one's own principles
- Bruce Lee - illustrated that extreme mental and physical discipline, and fluid improvisation, can be achieved simultaneously.
- MLK, Ghandi - passive disobedience.
- Any of the great explorers - for their courage.
- Jordan
- Hemingway - How to live deliberately.
- Charlie Champaine - Larger than life Alaskan pioneer, with tales that are as hard to believe as they are true. World Champion dog musher, sailor, jack of anything he wanted. Could be listed in the 'Normal Joe' category, but really isn't, because he's famous among certain groups and has been recognized at the State, Regional and Sport levels.


Actors/Characters
- Tyler Durden (both characters)
- Humphrey Bogart (most roles)
- Robin Hood (The Fox in the Disney Version)
- John Wayne (most roles)
- James Bond(s)
- Whoever is the underdog, generally.

Bonatti --- wow, a sad story in many ways. at least he was believed in the end. K2 is a toughie. Was it 1986 when there were 13 deaths on the mountain?


A hero to me is someone like Bonatti, who does what I could never do, but would love to have the courage. Or Brilliance.

Of course Mandela and Ghandi...  there are politicians to admire.


Acting is a gift, but does not make a hero for me. Not saying I would not want to be the old James Bond... the new one has waaay to much baggage   

Which Ma Lin Zwart?  The Table tennis player, the artist, or the Character ?

Jordan.... Means a couple of things to Brits.  A Busty woman and a country..  Who are you thinking of Dogboy?


How about Engineers or Scientists? Einstein, Faraday, Currie, Rutherford?

Clearly a hero inspires. Someone you look up to.  Why?

There is a single mindedness theme I think. Sometimes in ways that have changed our lives or those about us. But not always for me. Climbers contribute nothing on the grand scale.


Is it a boy thing?