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There is little I can or need to
say about Robert E. Lee. His life was a testament to
service, duty, honesty, humility, confidence and ambition
that is impossible to find within anyone else. The fact
that he is arguably America's greatest military leader is
almost a footnote when Lee is considered for his life as
a man. I feel lucky that I was able to study at the
institution that bears his mark and helps perpetuate his
legacies. He was a paramount person, an archetype of what
a man should be to his family, his heritage, his world,
his beliefs, his country and his future. "Duty and
Honor" were not concepts to Robert E. Lee, but a way
of life ~ in this he was an example to those of us who
understand and continually strive to achieve. The fact
that he was aggressive and audacious rather than an
analyst is further testimony to his greatness. |
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Mario Camilotto works in the
Cinelli factory owned by the Columbus Steel Company in
Milan, Italy. He built my beloved white Cinelli. He
builds all the Cinelli Super-Corsa frames ~ every one ~
and has since the company was sold to Columbus in 1984.
His products are the fusion of technical excellence and
beauty, all because he does his job. There must be much
of him in them … |
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Cino Cinelli and Ernesto Colnago
build the world's best road racing bicycles. Both were
racers of little renown but thinkers and designers of
high potential. Both built companies who have pushed the
technical boundaries of the machinery beyond what "engineers"
have done. Both companies, Cinelli and Colnago, have
pioneered new designs, concepts and materials that have
made a difference in the sport. Neither man has a formal
education and neither man let the experts design their
bicycles or run their companies. Both are tributes to
those that pedal and push for speed. |
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Robert Graves redefined the "war
novel." Following and expanding (perhaps unwittingly)
Stephen Crane's the Red Badge
of Courage, Graves' Good Bye to All
That spoke not only to his generation about
what WWI had been like, but speaks to generations to come
about war and honor. His novel / memoir speaks of duty,
patriotism and the unavoidability yet absurdity of being
a soldier and describes what we, who have been through
some of this, know. His subsequent writing, both Novels
and Poetry were incredible examples of where the muse can
take a literary figure. His life and his written words
move me to a higher understanding of our world, the role
of men in warfare and the on-going struggle between men
and women. |
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Greg Lemond is a man who showed
the world what the power of will, perseverance and raw
talent can do without sacrificing ethics or demeanor. He
was the first great American bicyclist of our age (no
apologies to John Boyer) and showed those of us in the US
that we could meet and be as good as the best of the
Europeans. He gave credibility to our sport - he even had
the cover of a Sports Illustrated magazine. After a near
fatal shooting accident, he struggled for years before
wining the Tour de France by an amazing 8 seconds. That
1989 tour, with its incredible final time trial still
brings tears to my eyes. All from a man who wore his
wedding ring on the bike and never lost his composure in
the Peloton. |
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Erich Remarque wrote Im
Westen nicht Neues (All Quiet on the Western
Front). Instead of the ordinary war memoir, he, with
Robert Graves and Siegfried Sassoon, told of the
intellectual and emotional reaction to being in WWI or
any war. His following books, Drei Kameraden,
and Arc D'Triumph, spoke of not only
the lost generation of war survivors, but the demands of
friendship and romance. He eventually found his way to
Hollywood as a screenwriter and an American citizen. His
novels are all beautiful descriptions of romantic and
compelling stories. He was a writer who awoke the world. |
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Sigfried Sassoon wrote Diary
of a Fox-Hunting Man. He is the third of my
trinity of war novelists of the First World War. The war
shattered him more than Graves or Remarque, but his
novels speaks of the joy of life, the inevitability of
duty and honor and the horror of living within the
military machine. I look at him as the progenitor to
Joseph Heller. It was to him, or rather his pseudonym -
George Shearston, that I dedicated my first novel. |
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Thomas Watson, Jr. built the
finest
American corporation in history: The International
Business Machines Company. His principles guided it in
its road to incredible achievement and success. Respect
for the individual was the most important legacy to the
company although it was, unfortunately, discarded by his
latest successor in the name of profit. His belief in
technology, computers to be specific, motivated him to
unseat his father as Chairman and guide the company to
its zenith. Not content with commercial success, he was
Jimmy Carter's ambassador to the Soviet Union after his
departure from the company. He was a businessman who had
wisdom, foresight, honesty, and a focus that is almost
impossible to find in our country today. I was proud to
be in his company. |
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One additional hero needs to be noted. Lauren
Hollinger (nee Schneider) is a true hero to me. She has provided me with love,
companionship and support over the length of our relationship. It is
she, the real person, who has been an inspiration to me as we face the
uncertain future together. |
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