Dear Elders, Who were your role models growing up?
– Curious
Jan Stickler
Dear Curious,
I think I preceded role models. The phrase “role model” wasn’t coined until the late 1950s. My parents didn’t know they were supposed to be them and I didn’t know I was supposed to have them. There were some people whose attributes I admired – sports figures, writers, musicians – but I didn’t particularly try to emulate them. Can’t really say I had any. We were just expected to grow up somehow and, hopefully, come out on the positive side.
Casper Kranenburg
Dear Curious,
As an elder, you expect role models to be long long ago and you are right; my role models when I grew up were Dionysus, Eros and Hypnos, the Greek gods of wine, love and sleep. Come to think of it, they are still my role models!
Roioli Schweiker
Dear Curious,
I could name the usual list of parents, teachers, scout leaders and Sunday school teachers. But in a different way, it was my Uncle Dick.
When I was 12, he had just had to give up his job because his multiple sclerosis was getting too
bad. Since Aunt Reba was working, it was a long, lonely day for him. They often visited us since his parents also lived in the Boston area, as we did.
I was learning to type and tired of copying exercises. I asked if I could write to him, and he was happy to agree. He was an educated man and must have spent a lot of time thinking of letters that would interest a young teenage girl. And I also had to think of things that would interest a man his age. History was one of our favorite subjects, but we found many more. I spent a lot of time reading the paper and books, and learned how to write interestingly, which I have found very useful.
Bill Twibill
Dear Inquisitive,
Who else but the entire gang of lovable characters from the artistry and gifted writings of Charles Schulz – Charlie Brown, the lovable one himself; Snoopy the ubiquitous dog and lovable Woodstock, Snoopy’s best friend; Linus and his blanket; and Lucy the fussy one; Schroeder and his Beethoven piano; Sally, Charlie Brown’s sister; Peppermint Patty, with all her freckles; Marcie, the bespectacled one; Franklin; Pig-Pen; Frieda, with her “naturally curly hair.” Remember Belle, Snoopy’s sister?
There are more to love, but you get the idea. What better role models could one wish for? Love them all. I enjoy them every day in the Monitor. Thank you very much, Charles Schulz for your lessons on how to deal with life in a most joyful manner .
Steve Leavenworth
Dear Curious,
I think the best role model for me would have been Spencer Tracy. He was always the “good guy.”
If you mean who did I try to fashion my own life to, I’d say my dad, up to a point. I followed his pointing finger into sailing, pistol shooting and gardening, and we both wound up in the Air Force in World War II.
