Ten Great Communicators of the Modern Era (Article) - 9/11/2013 7:03:00 AM
I agree with you on the contributions of these people. But you could also include people like Adolf Hitler who was able with his oratory to dupe nearly all of the German people into believing something they weren't.
One of my childhood memories was of the speech by Helen Keller. It is still remarkable to me today that she was so good at communicating. And there are many others shaped the twentieth century. I found Hugh Downs to be as enlightening as Walter Cronkite.
You left me wondering why a Southern preacher would end up in Minnesota. Most of us from the upper Midwest dream of escaping south. Reagan did, going to sunny California, and I did, ending up in Houston.
Your last one caught me by surprise. While I don't recall any special high school teacher––they were all good in their own way. I have been mentored by some very magnetic and intelligent advisors, colleagues, and superiors.
Ron
I Still Miss John Wayne (Article) - 7/20/2013 4:45:51 AM
What I remember is every time a John Wayne movie came out, the papers would howl what an awful movie it was, how awful an actor John Wayne was. Garry Wills 'John Wayne's America' so thoroughly trashes him, it borders on parody. I have the Director's cut, on VHS, of 'The Alamo', and at the end they interview Mike Wayne, John Wayne's eldest son, and the man who most likely saved Duke's Batjac film company from bankruptcy, and he says of his father, 'John Wayne was never a Sheriff in the Wild West, he never stormed any beaches or served in the military. What he was, and I think this is what really drives his critics crazy, was a really great actor."
