Here’s a meme that I found on Mr. Frog’s site and then I was tagged by Jaquandor. You’re supposed to name 20 men you admire. So, here I go. But first a couple of things for the participants:
A. Link back to the blog that tagged you.
B. Link back to the originator of this meme, which is The Dino Lounge.
C. Create your own list of 20 men that you admire and post them on your blog.
D. Tag 5 other people to participate in this meme.
E. If you like, please let The Dino Lounge know that you’ve participated in this meme so he can check out your posting and comment on it.
I was going to wait to do the neat photo montage that Mr. Frog and Jaquandor did, but I find that I was too impatient to learn how.
Initially, I was intimidated by the project because I thought it had to be the 20 men I’d admired MOST. How would I winnow THAT?
I also decided to limit the list to Americans of the last 200 years (except Lennon, because it’s my list). Otherwise, we’re talking daVinci, Copernicus…
I’ve actually met four people on this list: Seeger, Serling, Speigelman and Warren.
Muhammad Ali – a big admirer of Jack Johnson, Ali actually won his court case, ultimately.
Bill Cosby – listened to him forever on records; can quote without prompting.
Frederick Douglass (pictured) – among other things, an early feminist
W.E.B. duBois
Thomas Edison – for the phonograph alone, I’m thankful
Benjamin Franklin – I’m an almanac guy
Woody Guthrie – spoke of America in a most telling way
Thomas Jefferson – wonderfully conflicted guy
Martin Luther King Jr. – the strength of his Gandhian methodology. His April 1967 sermon against the Vietnam war was one off the most pivotal documents in my life.
John Lennon – when we played the Beatles, I WAS John
Willie Mays – the greatest living baseball player
Bill Moyers – opening the dialogue without being disagreeable
Carl Reiner – performer, writer, producer of a lot of entertainment I enjoyed
Paul Robeson – could pick him just on the voice alone
Jackie Robinson – just because
Pete Seeger – his ability to transform music from many cultures is phenomenal
Rod Serling – telling preachy stories about wrong and right without always being preachy
Dr. Seuss – I always especially loved the books where his characters spoke truth to power, such as Bartholemew and the Oobleck, and Yertle the Turtle
Art Speigelman – I loved his RAW magazine; then he created an even more amazing work
Earl Warren – liberties we take for granted, such as right to counsel and Miranda warnings we can credit (or blame, if you’re of that inclination) the Warren Court
I’m not feeling the need to tag, although if Gordon, Rebecca, Uthaclena, Kelly or anyone else wants to, fine.
ROG
