Who are your heroes?

[Dog Star (Phil)]

Heroes. Most of us have at least one; many of us have quite a few. Real life personalities, fictional characters from pop culture or iconic figures of myth and legend; they can be a source of inspiration or a means of playful association. Their qualities, morals and visions can resonate in our own lives in either slight or quite meaningful ways. They are the giants on whose shoulders we stand in order to see further. It is right and proper to entertain heroes in our lives.
For a mate of mine, it's the Phantom. He admires the Phantom's sense of justice and his use of strength to protect the not so strong. He's also intrigued that an alter ego (the Phantom) has created another alter ego (Mr Walker) in order to disguise his comings and goings. Truly is the Phantom a 3 dimensional character!
For you it may be Luke Skywalker, Galileo, Mahatma Ghandi or Donald Duck. They can be serious or fun but they will almost always reflect some aspect of our own nature and as such they are not only entertaining but also educational.
To start the ball rolling - these are my heroes;
Doctor Who - Eccentric adventures in time and space. If I ever write an autobiography, that'll be the title.
David Attenborough - A man whose passion and exuberance for the natural world around him has poured forth from millions of television sets around the world, much to our mutual benefit and wonder.
Henry Lawson - Writer, poet and bard. Australia's colloquial answer to Shakespere.
Isaac Newton - Scholar, alchemist, scientist and inventor. A true poly math and visionary.
Miyamoto Musashi - Master swordsman, strategist, philosopher and Zen mystic.
Frank Zappa - Musician, composer, social satirist. With typical dry understatement, he informed us that "It's ALL about the timing."
My parents.

An eclectic and eccentric bunch to be sure; but of even more interest - Who are your heroes and why?

[anthony2302749]

Wile E Coyote, no matter how may time he fall of cliffs, run over by trucks/trains, blown up, hit on the head with an anvil he never gives up.

[AstralTraveller (David)]

I've lots of heroes and it would take me a while to remember them all. How's this for starters? Perhaps the greatest guitarist I've heard is Robert Fripp. If his music was more accessible he'd be rated above Hendrix, Clapton and Page combined - but he just does what he does. When an interviewer asked why he took up guitar he responded, 'Because I was tone deaf and had no sense of rhythm'. At the time he was tapping the edge of the table with his two index fingers - 4 equally spaced beats with one hand while doing 5 equal spaced beats with the other. He believes in hard work for its own sake and its own rewards and because of that he has achieved. Pity I'm not more like him.

[Escortitis]

Hubert Wilkins - "No one before or since has discovered more previously unknown land or sea." "The bravest man that I have ever seen."

A truly extraordinary Australian who has almost been forgotten by all except those who share his passion to explore everything we know nothing about.

Eric Lo - I'm sure his astrophotography work has inspired many to pursue this hobby, I know this is true for me.

Shaun the sheep - A wooly animated visionary.

George

[sheeny (Al)]

OK, here's an eclectic collection of heroes for you:
Galileo Galilei
Albert Einstein
Mick Doohan (motorcyclist)
Barry Sheene (motorcyclist)
Joel Robert (motorcyclist)
Andrew McAuley (adventurer)
Dick Smith (adventurer amongst other things)
Mark Knopfler (guitarist)
David Gilmour (guitarist)
Dave King (rescuer)
Colin Powell (politician)
Stephen Smith (manager)
Douglas Adams
Richard Dawkins
My father
My kids

Al.

[MortonH]

John McClane

Batman

Lindsey Buckingham

[gman (Grant)]

Here they are in no particular order
Darkman
Wolverine
The Hulk

Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck & David Gilmour for guitar

[avandonk]

I put people into two categories

The so called GREAT achievers

Leonardo Da Vinci
Galileo Galilee
James Clerk Maxwell
Albert Einstein
Howard Flory the real inventor of the medical use of Penecillin. He has saved more lives than anyone else IMHO.

And for the greatest thinker of modern times
Douglas Richard Hofstadter
Google Him if you don't know who he is.
His book
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6...Escher%2C_Bach

Is the only book I never quite finished or did not fully understand.

and the ones who simply by being there and doing what they do make every thing work

your parents
the dunny man
the garbo
the fruiterer
the butcher......
The list is very long

More has been done for humanities health by simply having having clean water,decent food and good sanitation than all the medical interventions put together.

But then we also need to also educate everyone to a level where they can survive independantly.

Bert

[Ric]

No real heroes but there are people that I admire for what they have done and they are many and varied.

1. All the astronomers past and present whose achievements and forward thinking have made our great hobby what it is today.

2. All the greats of motorcycle racing who inspired me to take up racing myself, I loved every minute of it.

These are the main ones but there are lots more, I'd probably end up typing all night if I went on and listed them.

Cheers

[cahullian]

Cuchulain an Ulster warrior who single-handedly held back the entire war host of Munster, Leinster and Connaught. First known as Setanta but aquired his name by killing an Irish wolfhound with his bare hands when he was a youth.

Gazz

[OneOfOne (Trevor)]

One person that comes to mind would be "Deeks". As he approached the height of his career I had just begun running, in fact the first "fun run" I ever ran in was won by him. After the race, I got his autograph on the finishing certificate. I believe he helped inspire me to train harder and run in a number of marathons, improving from 5h 38m to 2h 58m in three years.

My "childhood" hero, from about grade 1 would have to be (and don't laugh) "Houghton the Elephant"...."I said what I meant, and I meant what I said". If I say I am going to do something, I always try my best to do it and try to not let excuses get in the way. As a result though, I am careful about what things I "say" I am going to do....no point in commiting to something you can't achieve.

There are many people whose achievements I admire, many have already been mentioned, but I don't know if they have "inspired" me to "do" anything in particular.

[Dujon]

I have admired many people over the years but have never had a 'hero'. Perhaps that's because my definition of 'hero' differs from that of other people (and that's not meant to denigrate you, Dog Star). To clarify that: A hero to me is someone who performs an heroic deed (which came first, the hero or the deed?). A hero therefore is someone who might risk life and limb a reputation or anything else that involves risk whilst at the same time attempting to help other people.

In other words, by definition, a hero is a hero - not my hero.

Right </pendant>

In the admiration stakes there are just too many to list.

Motor Cycling (seeing as a couple of you mentioned it) - Mike Hailwood, John Surtees and a few others plus anyone who did well in the Isle of Man TT.

Car Racing - Fangio, Von Tripp, Hawthorn, Hill, Moss and Clark, Senna and Prost . . .

Then there is the eclectic bunch of Philosophers, Astronomers, Medical explorers, Physicists - ah, the list goes on.

[Starless (Brian)]

My top ten in no particular order:-
Richard Dawkins, Friedrich Nietzsche, Ayn Rand, Peter Kropotkin, Ben Chifley, Galileo Galilei, Carl Sagan, Leonardo Da Vinci, Robert Fripp, John Lennon.

[koputai (Jason)]

Dick Smith
Sir Edmund Hillary
Donald Campbell

Musicians and sports people can be admired, but I can't see them as true heroes.

Cheers,
Jason.

[Rodstar (Rod)]

*My mum (raised three boys alone in difficult circumstances without a word of complaint)
*My wife (three births and having the lion's share of responsibility of raising my kids is truly heroic)
*Jesus Christ (forgave his enemies even as they crucified him)

I agree with Jason that sporting heroes are on a lower rung. Having said that, growing up I greatly admired Deeks as well, and also Bjorn Borg.

[spacezebra (Petra)]

Hi there

I agree with Rod on this one - my mum (raised three kids on her own).

I also have a great deal of respect for women who have achieved in their chosen profession, while there are just too many to mention here, I will note a few in the "astro" field that I have read about recently.

Sally Ride - The first American woman in space was also the youngest American astronaut ever to orbit Earth.

Carolyn Porco - Planetary scientist and currently heads up the Cassini Imaging science Team.

Carolyn Shoemaker - an amazing astronomer; she holds the record for the most comet discoveries. She has found more than 800 asteroids and 32 comets. Additional fame comes from her co-discovery, with husband Gene and David Levy, of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 in 1993.

Jocelyn Bell Burnell - Discovered the first four pulsars.

The list goes on....

Cheers Petra

[omnivorr]

my initial reaction was to say "heroes" are fictional characters/fetishes.. not personages of admirable and emulation-worthy endeavour/endurance/generosity, and soforth..

the "Marvel Superhero" floss inhabits popular culture like a web.. cobwebs .. and dust..

imagine my mild elation at the thoughtful replies that preceeded mine!

my only minor quibble, p'haps.. and without rancour or denigration, ..might be with the demarcations observed by koputai (jason)...

I would see :

"Dick Smith
Sir Edmund Hillary
Donald Campbell"

..more as priveleged 'adventurers' seeking 'glory', rather than contributing greatly to the greater sphere of humanity in understanding or equality.

..whilst never doubting their personal levels of ambition, courage, fortitude, and soforth..

...even a foe can be admired for such qualities.. tho' their ultimate goals are NOT to be applauded.

Cheers
Russ