Some of us undoubtedly treasure the books we read in our childhood and adolescence about heroes, particularly those in the American Pantheon. Teddy Roosevelt, Clara Barton, Daniel Boone, and scores of other famous figures fired up our imaginations, bred the desire to live honorably and do great deeds, and perhaps sparked a lifelong passion for history and biography.
The lives of some of the stalwarts who inspired me in boyhood—Robert E. Lee, Roosevelt, and T.E. Lawrence, known popularly as “Lawrence of Arabia,” come immediately to mind—have remained a part of my reading as an adult. To those, the years have added names such as G.K. Chesterton, Booker T. Washington, and, in particular, Winston Churchill, with half a dozen biographies of that English bulldog on my bookshelves. At various times in my life, an oddball gathering of writers, painters, teachers, and politicians have also served as mentors for work and life.An Instinct for Imitation
The word hero appropriately derives from the ancient Greek heros. After all, it was the Greeks who celebrated and sought to emulate the great deeds done by Homer’s warriors in the Trojan War. They also revered their own historical lionhearts as models for virtue and courage. The Spartan king Leonidas, the Athenian philosopher Socrates, and, of course, Alexander the Great were so venerated in their own time that not only their names but their words and deeds have come down to us. This longevity of their reputation shows that, like the Greeks, we, too, esteem those who act with courage, achieve greatly, and live honorably, no matter their time or place.
And like the Greeks, we seem possessed by some instinct to emulate those who would make us bigger and better than our present selves. We know this inclination exists by observing any 4-year-old waving a stick for a sword while vanquishing his imaginary enemies, or the 6-year-old who decks herself out as Wonder Woman on Halloween.
Unfortunately, this proclivity for imitation isn’t always positive. An adolescent nourished by the biographies of American figures such as Sojourner Truth, Thomas Jefferson, and Boone will have a healthier worldview than the one fed a diet of rap music and pop culture or the teen who wants to copycat some unhinged influencer on social media.
For the Children’s Sake
On a recent trip to our local public library, I visited the children’s department, where a 25-foot-long row of shelves held hundreds of biographies. From all these titles, I pulled at random Len Canter’s “Babe Ruth,” which is part of the “Heroes of America” series; Dave and Neta Jackson’s “Listen for the Whippoorwill,” a Trailblazer book about Harriet Tubman; Genevieve Foster’s classic “The World of Capt. John Smith;” and Albert Marrin’s “Theodore Roosevelt and the Rise of Modern America.” To my delight, I even discovered several of the “Childhood of Famous Americans” series that had enchanted me in my early school days.
From all of these stories and many, many more, young people can learn more about the history of America, which is a good thing, particularly in these days, when Americans of all ages are increasingly ignorant about their country’s past. Perhaps more importantly, the readers of these books will find ordinary men and women who, by dint of bravery, conscience, and talent, faced and overcame enormous obstacles, and in doing so, bettered the lives of those around them.
Uplifting Our Hearts and Minds
Biographies and autobiographies offer these same mountaintop vistas for adults. They can act as mentors, therapists, and friends.Feted by the Waving Grass
Ours is the age of the anti-hero. All too often, we point to the warts and blemishes of our ancestors rather than to their heroic virtues. The current standing of our Founding Fathers is a prime example of this tendency. Their accomplishments and rectitude, their sacrifices and courage, have in this new century been eroded, broken down, and worn away by charges of colonialism, slavery, racism, and sexism. Some critics besmirch these men with the label “dead white males,” as though William Penn, George Washington, James Madison, and so many others have nothing to teach us.Near the snow, near the sun, in the highest fields, See how these names are fêted by the waving grass And by the streamers of white cloud And whispers of wind in the listening sky. The names of those who in their lives fought for life, Who wore at their hearts the fire’s centre. Born of the sun, they travelled a short while toward the sun And left the vivid air signed with their honor.The inspirational stories of the living and the dead invite the rest of us to travel with them toward the sun.
