Finding Heroes At Every Turn

"Who are your heroes"? Like a lot of male kids growing up, my first hero's where athletes. The first hero that I can remember was Andre Thorton. Andre was the first baseman and designated hitter for the Cleveland Indians back in the mid to late 70's. The Indians really sucked bad back then, but Andre thorton was the star of the team and could hit monster style home runs. I wrote to him when I was about 11 or 12 and told him how much I loved watching him play and especially hit. He instantly became my hero when he wrote me back and sent me an autographed picture of him. I was so blown away and over the moon with happiness, which is a great feeling for a 12 year old.

The hero's that have meant the most to me though are David Bowie and Joe Strummer. Both of these men's music, style and attitudes help shape and influenced my way of thinking about the world and how I could fit into it. They were both very genuine in how they wrote and how they expressed themselves through their music and their shared life experiences. I absolutely fell in love with how David Bowie felt a freedom to express himself through his music and various persona's or alter ego's that he would allow himself to create. These alter ego's would show up through his music and his style. He showed me that it was ok to want to be different and look different from the rest of the crowd.

My life changed forever when I was a sophomore in high school and I heard the song "Police on My Back" by the Clash. I was blown away by the sound I was hearing for the first time. This was PUNK ROCK music. I was hooked and found all the clash albums and never looked back. This new music and the way Joe Strummer wrote and communicated his message about oppression and the lack of empathy in the world fueled my very rebellious attitude and it has been fueling it ever since. I was lucky to meet and hang out with Joe Strummer on his last North American tour before he died of a heart attack walking his dog of all things. He was very gracious and a sharing person. We drank and smoked together and share a couple stories in his dressing room. It's one thing to have hero's. It is something totally different when you get to meet your heroes and share a moment of friendship with them. 

I am forever grateful for my heroes I have had that have touched my life. Their journey through life has been inspiring to me. Be it the good, the bad or the ugly. They have shown me that we all can do great things, fall flat on our face and rise to great things again. After all they are human, just like you and I.