People That You Admire

[Steven Russell]

Carl Perkins, Sleepy LaBeef, Robert Johnson, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Tony Williams of The Platters, Pete Johnson, Django Reinhardt, Tchavolo Schmitt, Elvis Presley (musicians);
PG Wodehouse, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (writers);
DR Jardine (cricketer);
CB Fry (all round good egg);
The Tick, Batmanuel (superheroes);
William Shatner (shatner);
Newton, Copernicus, Einstein, Hawking (scientists);
Richard Dawkins (scientist and advocate of atheism);
Oliver Norvell Hardy (actor);
Geoffrey Boycott (entertainer);
Stewart Lee (comedian);
Sherlock Holmes (consulting detective)

There must be loads I've missed out and no doubt I'll be kicking myself later but these will do for now.

Best wishes,
Steve.

[Graham]

The Queen did NOT invent the telephone, though it is her saying "at the third stroke..."

I think you're confusing the speaking-clock with flagellation, Robert.

Graham

[Graham]

Robert Johnson because he didn't give a fart and he also laid the basis for modern popular music.

The weather-girl Carol Kirkwood, for two very obvious reasons.

The UK-based American singer Brooks Williams because not only is he a huge talent, he's a truly nice and modest bloke who will help any aspiring musician.

My late mother, who had to put up with a lot from me.

There are more, but I'm too tired to think who.

Graham

[Robert]

Steve, Oliver Hardy hits the nail right on the head.

[Phil Carter]

Hello Steve,

Did you know that C.B.Fry was on the board of Directors at Chelsea FC in it's early years?

all round good egg indeed!

best wishes

Phil

[Zodiac]

Charlie Don't Surf!!!

Am I dreaming or did someone just mention Marie Curie in the same breath with Aileen Wuornos? Why not put Alexander Fleming (who was essentially the inventor of antibiotics) together with Zodiac (the serial killer, not the casebook member)? Notice that I've been attentive to nuances, and did not compare Wuornos to someone like, say, Bundy.

Hi Maria,

Did somebody just take my name in vain??? Glad that you made the distinction for me!!! Thanks. Hope that all is well with you.

Best wishes,
Zodiac.

P.S. Maybe Albert Schweitzer might deserve a mention here? He's not really to my taste, and is probably dreadfully out of fashion, but I've known many people who had a great admiration for him and his work.

[kensei]

Saw a show tonight about Steven Callahan, the only person known to have survived more than a month adrift at sea in a life raft (76 days!). If you can't admire that there is something seriously wrong with you.

[mariab]

Did somebody just take my name in vain??? Glad that you made the distinction for me!!! Thanks. Hope that all is well with you.

Hey Zodiac, I knew you would turn up and say something like this. I hope you're fine, and your dog too. I'm OK, and it looks like it might snow tonight or tomorrow (I can smell it in the air), so we're considering driving to the hills on saturday night (to ride all sunday). Hopefully. I haven't been outdoors since Xmas (due to total lack of snow in Germany).

I can't believe I misspelled Rodney Mullen (Rodney Muller, sic! Is that my German roots coming out?). To anyone wondering, he's the skater who invented and completely revolutionized flip tricks. Which to many might not seem as a significant accomplishment, but I have a fetish and could watch fliptricks for hours on end, both on video or at a skate park. The first time I saw someone doing a kickflip, my jaw dropped and I thought this went against all laws of nature, but actually it's pretty easy to initiate them, the real super hard part is landing them clean. I've never ever managed to land a fliptrick with both feet on the skateboard, one feet invariably ended up on the ground. I recall once in Zermatt when my ankle swelled to orange proportions from eating the board while working on fliptricks, but it de-swelled in a couple hours with some ice.
Street skater feet, ballerina on point doing fouettés turns feet, it can't get more intricate. And I could watch for hours. (Perv-like.)

[Sister Hyde]

sorry about mispelling Egon, that was a typing mistake, i gotta stop going so fast when i write, and yes i did mention Aileen W and Marie Curie in the same breath, i was just piling them all to answer the question without develloping on pages because i assume nobody needs a biography of these characters.

[Sister Hyde]

in the vein of serial killers, i also love Mister Richard Ramirez, aka the night stalker.

[Steven Russell]

Hello Steve,

Did you know that C.B.Fry was on the board of Directors at Chelsea FC in it's early years?

all round good egg indeed!

best wishes

Phil

Hello, Phil.
No, I didn't know that. I do know he is supposed to have been offered the throne of Albania - he declined - and could jump backwards from the floor to the mantelpiece.

What a man.
Steve.

[c.d.]

C.D., if I might inquire, where did you meet Sir Edmund Hillary? Do you climb?

Hi Maria,

Unfortunately, I didn't meet Sir Edmund Hillary I only heard him speak. It was at a lecture sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution here in Washington, D.C.. Standing room only and when he finished he received a standing ovation. Naturally he was asked about Mallory and Irvine and whether he believed that they had reached the summit of Everest. He did not believe that they did but went on to say that even if they did he believed that reaching the summit successfully meant that you got back down as well and therefore he and Tenzing Norgay still retained that distinction. He said it very tactfully and with great deference to Mallory and Irvine.

I enjoy the outdoors and like hiking and backpacking but don't do any climbing.

c.d.

P.S. I just happened to be reading the book "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer at the time. If you have never read it, I highly recommend it. It is about the tragedy on Everest a few years ago when a number of climbers lost their lives during a horrific storm.

[c.d.]

I'm glad that so many people have responded on this thread. For a while there I noticed that a lot of people had apparently looked at it but made no comment. Suddenly it seems to have taken on a life of its own.

I have also noticed that some people are listing people that they like such as musicians and athletes. That's fine but I was trying to limit it to people that you truly respect and admire not simply like.

c.d.

[Phil Carter]

Hi cd,

I truly admire the singers in my list. Can't tell you why though, it wouldn't be correct of me. As far as the athletes are concerned, they all did things that I admire.

best wishes

Phil

[c.d.]

That's fine with me, Phil. Carry on.

c.d.