Who are your heroes?

I'm not really religious (quasi Anglican/ Buddhist), but I do tend to respect religious men and women.  One of my big heroes is the assassinated  El Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero.

Romero: "Make injustice visible -- witness, remember, teach, proclaim, tell. Light candles, do not curse the darkness."

Bill Hicks

Hmmm... difficult.

Musicians

Peter Hammill
Robert Wyatt
Warren Haynes
Bob Dylan

Authors

Charles Dickens
Franz Kafka
Douglas Adams

Miscellaneous

James Yeowell (a 19th century antiquarian and editor, it seems after researching him, we seem to bare many similarities)
Eric "Winkle" Brown (a brilliant pilot, who flew many experimental aircraft in his time, from both ally and axis powers.  He's still alive and is very much respected in his field)

As well as personal friends of mine.


Edited by Geck0 - October 20 2006 at 21:34

In the world: everyone who tries to do something for this world and who tries to make it a better place.

nice thread. and thanks, ivan, for defending the truth. i'll pick my heroes from some specific fields of activity, but not because of their achievements but of how they behaved as public persons. also, my defnition of the hero is that of someone who does his special thing by his own powers, so that's why i won't choose saints and others from the religious area because they had holy grace alongside their own strenght.

Edited by andu - October 20 2006 at 08:26

I can only think of 2 people that I really admire:

Alessandro Zanardi, Nikki Lauda.

Lauda crashed in the'76 German grand prix at the Nurbergring Nordshleife badly, suffering series burns and was read "the last rights" in hospital only to return to the cockpit of his Ferrari 6 weeks later. He won the 77 world championship after missing out on the 76 title by 1 point.

Alex Zanardi was the 97 & 98 Champ Car World Series champion, but lost both his legs in a horrendous crash at the Euro Speedway Lausitz in Germany in 2001. He last 3/4 of his blood but continous to race in the World Tourig Car Championship with a hand controls BMW 320Si, though his prosthetic legs do controle the brakes. Though no a title challenger, he has won a couple of races this year and is pretty fast.

Frank Herbert ( author )
Stephen Biko ( political activist )
Nat King Cole ( jazz musician )
Michel Chartrand ( Union leader )
René Lévesque ( politician )

Frank Zappa
Fish
Peter Hammill

And I can't forget Douglas Adams.

NutterAlert wrote: Debby is one of my heros too.

Manifold. Here's a few:

Spike Milligan, Vivian Stanshall, Ivor Cutler, Edward Lear, Kurt Schwitters, Chris Morris, Olchar E. Lindsann, Rene Magritte, Tristan Tzara, Samuel Beckett, Armando Iannucci, Crabb Murlock.