On the day my first son was born eight years ago, I decided to write a book—a collection of heroes throughout history that would inspire him in his own life. Some are famous and some you may never have heard of, but all of the people I write about in Heroes for My Son have done such wonderful things with their lives that I am happy to consider them role models for my children.
The following are ten famous individuals I admire who are shining examples of how creativity, dedication, and perseverance can change your life.
Fred Rogers
For forty years, Fred Rogers used public television to teach kindness to children on his show Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Did it work? After thieves stole Mr. Rogers’s car, the story was broadcast on TV and in newspapers. The car was returned two days later. The note in the car read: “If we’d known it was yours, we never would have taken it.”
John Lennon
Everyone told him not to follow his dream. His Aunt Mimi said music wasn’t a job. But he kept playing—until he was traveling around the world with his band The Beatles selling out arenas, singing about peace, and redefining what a rock star can shout about. By the time J. Edgar Hoover was tapping his phone and having him followed, John knew that there was only one way to deal with naysayers. You just have to keep singing your song.
Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel
Best friends Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel had a dream about a man who could fly. And at the brink of World War II, in the midst of the Great Depression, these two kids from Cleveland didn’t just give us the world’s first superhero; they gave us something to believe in. His name is Superman.
Steven Spielberg
He is the most famous, successful, admired directors to ever work in film. He’s the visionary behind E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Schindler’s List. But the most important movies he’s helped create are ones that the fewest number of people will see: the nearly 52,000 videotaped testimonies from Holocaust survivors and other witnesses archived by his nonprofit organization, the USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education.
