The daughter of a friend in Sydney sent me a link to a survey she was conducting as part of her final year of studies at school. The tenor of the questions in her survey suggested that she was concentrating on the effect of 'celebrities' on young women, so whether or not she found my answers useful or not remains to be seen - but it did make me think for a few moments, along the lines of 'who is mine?' Dismissing the obvious thoughts of the football-related, such as Graham Taylor, Sir Luther or even GFZ, I submitted the answer Dr David Suzuki, the Canadian Environmentalist. I was so deeply moved when I first read his book, The Sacred Balance, that I view it as my bible - it has pride of place on my bedside cabinet, right next to Ollie Phillips and Trefor Jones - and now consider that it should be compulsory reading in all secondary schools. In fact it wouldn't go astray in every new MP's starter pack.... So who is yours?
Wow! So many to think of, how do you whittle it down? Kirsty Howard, do you remember her? Given weeks to live when she was four, she recently celebrated her 16th birthday! She has a heart defect which could end her life at any time, she is studying hard for her GCSE's, she has raised more than £5M for charity and just continues to live her life to the full!
Several that immediately come to mind:- William Wilberforce Astley Cooper - Lord Shaftesbury Charles Darwin Abe Lincoln Bobby Moore Douglas Bader Lenard Cheshire
This is a big one for a football thread! Parts of each of: Nelson Mandela (apols to those who think he was a terrorist) Dalai Lama Ramakrishna ( Indian 19c mystic) Gandhi Terry Waite ......
Bob Geldof - I was 14 at the time of Band aid and still think as concepts that and Live Aid were utterly unbelievable
For the last few years- Robert Wyatt. Paraplegic in his twenties (his own silly fault) but has continued to produce amazing music ever since.
Antoine Charles Louis, baron de Lasalle of the Holy Roman Empire then Général comte de Lasalle of the 1er Empire, 1775-1809. He died when very young but his actions are an inspiration.
