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| Quiet Heroes | Oct '05 |
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| By Cliff Robertson |
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The trouble with heroes—quiet heroes—is they're too damn quiet! Their modesty forces them into quiet corners. They seek shadows. Anonymity.
They avoid, or try to avoid, recognition. The very thing most of us seek. Of course, that makes them more fascinating. More "seekable." Decades ago, the most "seekable" Hollywood movie star was an actress. A profession not known for modesty.
A tall, lissome mysterious Swede of classic beauty and talent named Greta Garbo. Garbo was genuine. The real deal. And she really wanted "to be alone." So, of course, Hollywood wouldn't let her. They say a thief suspects everyone of being a thief. Ergo—by that hallmark, naturally, Hollywood thought Garbo was faking her desire for seclusion, but sadly, she wasn't.
Naturally shy by nature—highly sensitive—this émigré was caught in the web of Hollywood. The more she struggled to escape its lethal trappings, the more Hollywood, with its world web of publicity, kept her entrapped. With her great beauty and talent she was caught as surely as any black widow's prisoner.
Yes, poor Greta was prisoner of her own true beauty and talent.
It's amusing to hear today's celebrities decry their need "for space." Too often what they really seek is space in the media—newspapers, television, and gossip columns.
They too are victims: victims of a constant need for attention. Somehow they don't really believe in themselves without checking themselves regularly in the mirror of publicity.
And can you blame them? After all, too often their educational foundation and life experience is confined to the checkout line at the supermarket. This library of sleaze. And why, one might ask, does this diet of neo-porn and gossip exist? Answer: Sleaze sells, baby. It sells.
Meanwhile back to our quiet heroes. They are not to be found in the library of sleaze nor in the land of lala (Hollywood). Greta has gone. There is no one to take her place.
A talented and beautiful lady once got caught "in the web" and became surfeited with the Glitz of Gower Street. This beautiful talented actress miraculously leapt over the studio walls of Hollywood and sought refuge to—yes, it's true—a New England nunnery!
Since that time she has devoted herself unselfishly to the Lord's work—helping others! She truly is, in this writer's mind, a true Quiet Hero. Out of respect for her desire for anonymity, her name will not be divulged. Not surprisingly, quiet heroes can often be found in the world of aviation. For the most part they are inclined to be self-effacing. Certainly Charles Lindbergh comes to immediate mind. A shy young man in the farmlands of Minnesota, he was ill prepared for the world's attention showered on him on his arrival in Paris after his solo trans-Atlantic flight. He tried to avoid the glitz and hoopla, but an eager world denied his desire.
Of course, America was seeking heroes after WWI and it was only natural; the intoxicating '20s would support such revelry. The 1929 market crash and subsequent depression was a sobering wake-up call. Or more precisely, a decade-long hangover from its economic woes.
If the Cleveland Air Races and the ventures of Wiley Post, Amelia Earhart and Howard Hughes belied America's sobering up from the excesses of the '20s, it was more of man's need to reach up to technology and science. To refuse to atrophy. Certainly it is characteristic of our young nation to try to make tomorrow better for mankind than yesterday.
Certainly men of medicine like Flemming, Sabin, and Salk are quiet heroes. Their accomplishments were hailed but they, for the most part, sought the modest shadows rather than the glaring lights of self-aggrandizement. No, in spite of the media's hungry cacophony for attention—the true heroes were quiet heroes. Particularly in aviation. Can you find a more reluctant hero than Neil Armstrong? Not to overlook the Quiet Birdman Association and our hero from Oshkosh, EAA's Paul Poberezny. Even in sports, can one ignore the modest grace of tennis greats Chris Everett and Stephie Graf? Or the quiet gentleman Roger Federer or Rod Laver or Arthur Ashe? Golfing legends Nancy Lopez? Baseball's Stan Musial, Joe DeMaggio, Lous Gehrig. These are but a few of truly great, Quiet Heroes.
Though we would not deny the value of the electronic loudspeaker to amplify their heroic feats, we should not increase the volume at the expense of the greatness of their inherent modesty.
Their quiet values speak louder than shouts of vainglorious words. So—"All hail, the great feats of our conquering heroes, as we rejoice in their Great Quietness."
Academy Award and Emmy Award winning screen star Cliff Robertson has owned and flown a wide array of aircraft, including a Spitfire MK IX, a Messerschmitt ME-108, a French aerobatic Stampe SV4 biplane, a Grob Astir glider (in which he still holds a distance record) and a Beech Baron 58. A holder of single, multi, instrument and commercial licenses, as well as balloon, the pilot of many thousands of hours has accumulated many aviation awards, including EAA's highest Eagle award and the AOPA Sharples award. Cliff was recently voted and honored as the Veteran of the Year by the American Veteran Association. His columns will appear in his soon-to-be published book.
Publishers note:
Cliff Robertson is the only movie star of my knowledge who doesn't employ a press agent. His work and his words speak for themselves. Neither does he ask for one penny in the Aviation Journal for his written words. We are proud of this distinction—and those words.
Jerry Lips, Publisher
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