The Kindest People Who Do Good Deeds,
Volume 6: 250 Anecdotes
Dedicated with love and respect to Randy Jones
“A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave for five minutes longer.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
“We can’t all be heroes because somebody’s got to sit on the curb and clap as they go by.” — Will Rogers
Feel free to send a free copy of this pdf document to anyone.
SMASHWORDS EDITION
Thank you for downloading this free ebook. You are welcome to share it with your friends. This book may be reproduced, copied and distributed for non-commercial purposes, provided the book remains in its complete original form. If you enjoyed this book, please return to Smashwords.com to discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support.
All anecdotes are stated in my own words to avoid plagiarism.
Copyright 2010 by Bruce D. Bruce
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The doing of good deeds is important. As a free person, you can choose to live your life as a good person or as a bad person. To be a good person, do good deeds. To be a bad person, do bad deeds. If you do good deeds, you will become good. If you do bad deeds, you will become bad. To become the person you want to be, act as if you already are that kind of person. Each of us chooses what kind of person we will become. To become a hero, do the things a hero does. To become a coward, do the things a coward does. The opportunity to take action to become the kind of person you want to be is yours.
This book is a collection of stories of good deeds. Most of them I have encountered in my reading of books, and then retold in my own words. Some of them come from other sources, such as the World Wide Web. This book is organized by topic. Many people in the arts, in religion, and in everyday life have done good deeds, and I am happy that such people exist in this world.
I hope that you enjoy reading this book, and I hope that you are inspired to do some good deeds of your own.
“I Will Go with You Into the Grave”
In a medieval Christian mystery play, a man asks who will go with him into the grave when he dies and give him support at the Day of Judgment. Time after time, he hears the answer, “I won’t go with you into the grave.” His wife won’t go with him into the grave, his children won’t go with him into the grave, his priest won’t go with him into the grave, his friends won’t go with him into the grave — even his wealth won’t go with him into the grave. Finally, the man’s good deeds say, “I will go with you into the grave,” and the man and his deeds knock at the door of death, together. (1)
A Full-Time Comedian
When Richard Lewis was learning his craft as a comedian, he was also working three part-time jobs. He felt that he was good enough to make it as a full-time comedian, but he needed a stake to live on to get started. One day, he complained to his friend and very successful comedian David Brenner, saying that he wished that he could quit his three jobs and be a full-time comedian. Mr. Brenner asked how much money it would take for Mr. Lewis to be able to quit his three jobs. After Mr. Lewis said it would take $1,000, Mr. Brenner gave him $1,000 and said, “Here, you’re a full-time comedian.” (2)
Everything About Texas is Big
Joe Bob Briggs once followed Bob Hope around at a golf tournament in Texas in order to write an article about him. He liked the comedian, and he even wrote a joke for him, which he passed along to Mr. Hope’s press agent. (Joe Bob was never able to actually meet Mr. Hope.) The press agent asked such questions as “You’re a joke writer?” and “You want money for this joke?” The answer to both questions was, No, and Joe Bob said to the press agent, “It would be an honor if I could say I wrote a joke for Bob Hope.” That night, Mr. Hope told the joke to an audience. The press agent found Joe Bob the next day and said, “Bob wanted me to personally thank you for the joke.” Joe Bob says today, “So I never met him, but I never got anything in professional compensation that compared to that moment.” What was the joke? This is it: “I love Texas. Big hats on the men and big hair on the women. Even the golf courses are big. I lost my ball three times today, and I was putting.” Joe Bob says, “Okay, I admit it, not that funny. The point is, when Bob Hope said it, it was hysterical.” (3)
Letters to a Young Fan
Andrew Buckingham was 13 years old when he started to write comedian Kenneth Williams, co-star of many British Carry On movie comedies. The correspondence lasted almost three years, ending only with Mr. Williams’ death. Mr. Buckingham says today, “He replied to all my letters, often by return of post. It still surprises me.” The first letter was simply a request for a photo — autographed, of course. But young Andrew mentioned positively a book that Mr. Williams had written, and Mr. Williams thanked him for the compliment. The correspondence continued, and young Andrew, who knew that Mr. Williams had been bullied while in school, once asked him for advice about how to handle being around bullies. Mr. Williams wrote back, “Obviously, one does anything to avoid confrontation. My method was to chum up with a tough guy at school, and that provides protection. But the individual invariably has to find his own way round all the pitfalls.” After Mr. Williams died, his sister, Pat, went through his possessions, and she was surprised to find letters from young Andrew. She called Andrew and told him, “It’s amazing. Most letters from people your age would have gone straight in the bin.” She also asked Andrew if he wanted anything that had belonged to Mr. Williams. Today, he wishes that he had asked for Mr. Williams’ fountain pen. (4)
Two Kind People
George Carlin’s mother, Mary, was a kind woman. When George was a child, he would sometimes talk her into having a meal at the Automat. While they were there, she would often see a man nursing a cup of coffee because he had nowhere to go, and she would give George a quarter — which bought a lot more then than it does now — to give to the man. George says, “She really did have a generous heart.” So did George, who used to be part of a comedy team with Jack Burns. (After they split up, Jack became very successful with Avery Schreiber.) One day, George and Jack were goofing around in a Chicago hotel when for some reason Jack threw a paperback out of the window. Suddenly, they remembered that Jack had put his pay in the paperback for safekeeping. They went to the window and watched twenties and fifties float down to the ground, knowing that the money would be long gone by the time they ran down the stairs and reached the street. A nice guy, George split his pay with Jack. (5)
“Bill, are You OK? How’s Everything at Home?”
Billy Crystal’s father died when Billy was 15 years old, and Billy took it hard. He had a hard time functioning because he felt like he was carrying a boulder all the time. He did try out for the varsity basketball team, but during tryouts he played as if he were carrying a boulder. Obviously, if you’re carrying a boulder and trying to play basketball at the same time, the basketball is not going to do what you want it to do. The coach, Mr. Farry, called Billy to his office and asked him, “Bill, are you OK? How’s everything at home?” Billy told him all his troubles, especially including his father’s death and the effect it was having on his mother. Coach Farry put him on the team. As an adult, Mr. Crystal wrote in his autobiography, 700 Sundays, “That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.” (6)
“Now Don’ Say Nuthin’ to Her”
Richard Pryor’s grandmother was a kind and understanding woman. When he was 26 years old, he went back home to attend the funeral of his stepmother. At the wake were many dishes of food brought by neighbors. One dish brought by an elderly neighbor held baked dressing, and Mr. Pryor saw cockroaches in it. His face showed his horror, but his grandmother told him in a low voice, “Now don’ say nuthin’ to her. She old an’ blind. She can’t see no more. She probably lef’ the oven door open an’ they crawled in there las’ night.” (7)
Sarcasm — and Great Kindness
Comedian Drew Carey sometimes has the persona of a very outspoken and sarcastic person, but he does good deeds. After the taping of an episode of Mr. Carey’s TV sitcom, The Drew Carey Show, a man in the audience refused to leave until he had spoken to Mr. Carey. Of course, celebrities sometimes attract weird — and dangerous — fans. However, after Mr. Carey learned that the man was a former Marine like himself, he talked to the man for approximately 90 minutes. An unnamed source who spoke to Kathleen Tracy, author of Home Brewed: The Drew Carey Story, said, “It turns out the guy had just been discharged. He was depressed and was really having a hard time adjusting to life outside of the service. He didn’t know what his future held and felt aimless.” Mr. Carey had felt the same way, so he knew what the man was feeling — and he was able to give him some encouraging words. In addition, Mr. Carey once organized a benefit for Antonio, an employee at the Improv, whose son had been shot and was racking up expensive medical bills. Another anonymous source who spoke to Ms. Tracy said, “Hardly anybody knew that Drew had done that, because it isn’t something he’d ever advertise. But that’s the kind of guy Drew is.” Antonio also is capable of great kindness. When Mr. Carey was a young comedian struggling to be successful, Antonio gave him free food. (8)
Cleaning the Unwashed
Comedian Chris Rock’s parents, Julius and Rose, are good people. Together, they cared — well — for 17 foster children while Chris was growing up. Even as a schoolgirl, Rose was doing good deeds. Some very young children at her school would be unwashed for days, so she began bringing a bar of soap to school to clean them so that their classmates would not tease them. (9)
Not the Reality
In 1918, Julian Johnson wrote an article titled “Charles, Not Charlie” for Photoplay. In it, he mentioned that an actor had died suddenly the previous winter in Los Angeles, but fortunately he had left behind no debts, some money in the bank, and wealth enough to support his family until his children grew up. However, Mr. Johnson went on to say that this was not the reality. He writes, “I am one of three people who know that the poor fellow had squandered all he made, had $2.67 in cash, no insurance, and owed half the tradesmen in town. Charles Chaplin righted all this, and not even the widow knows!” (10)
Afraid to Go Back to the Club
Famous nightclub comic Joe E. Lewis went out of his way to help other comedians. When Alan King was a young comedian, he bombed — badly — at a small comedy club where he was booked to perform an early and a late show. He left quickly because he was sure the club manager was going to fire him before the late show. He happened to run into Mr. Lewis, who asked how it had gone. Mr. King explained why he was afraid to go back to the club. So Mr. Lewis called the club manager, introduced himself, and said, “I hear you’ve got my kid Alan King working for you. … I’m coming over.” Mr. King went back and performed the late-night show for Mr. Lewis, who brought a bunch of friends with him, and Mr. King says, “I got lucky — I got funny. I stayed in the joint for about four weeks. I always remember Joe E. He was a very kind guy.” By the way, Mr. Lewis attended the wedding of fellow comedian Jack Carter. Mr. Lewis gambled — a lot — and when Mr. Carter said, “I do,” Mr. Lewis said, “D*mn, I just lost another bet.” (11)
A Midnight Snack — for 2,800 People
As long as he was not in the persona of either obnoxious jerk Tony Clifton or the obnoxious Intergender World Wrestling Champion, Andy Kaufman was a very nice guy. He did not shut himself off from ordinary people and even gave his telephone number to taxicab drivers and other people he met and liked. In 1979, at the end of his performance at Carnegie Hall, he invited all 2,800 people in the audience to have milk and cookies with him. Buses that he had hired took all audience members who accepted the invitation to a place where they could enjoy the midnight snack, and Mr. Kaufman picked up the tab. (12)
A Good Response to Criticism
Chico Marx’s wife, Betty, once had to go into a hospital for an operation, and she criticized the slovenly way he was dressed when he and their daughter, Maxine, visited her. Therefore, after the visit, he asked Maxine to wear her prettiest dress the next day when they visited her mother again. This time, Betty did not criticize Chico — he was wearing a top hat, white tie, and tails. Maxine writes in Growing Up with Chico, “I had never seen my mother so much in love with him before.” (13)
Bubba the Hero
In 1995, gay comedian Ant got a gig in Arkansas, but when he arrived, he discovered that he was in a town that advertised itself as the “Proud Home of the KKK.” He also discovered that the people who had hired him had confused him with a racist comedian whose name was similar to his. Stand-up comedians tend to be fearless, and Ant started doing his comedy, and when he came out as gay to his audience as he usually did, a wave of hatred came toward him, and he feared for his life. A huge man named Bubba who had no teeth came on stage and grabbed him and picked him up and carried him off the stage and out of the building, with Ant screaming all the while, “RAPE! RAPE! HATE CRIME!” Bubba then threw him into a pick-up, but instead of threatening him, said, “We’ve got to get you out of here, little buddy, or they’re gonna kill you!” (14)
An NBA Star Who Can Stop Bullets
Comedian Carlos Mencia once stood up for a very young Freddie Soto, who was just starting out. Mr. Soto was on stage, and he was being heckled. Mr. Mencia liked Mr. Soto, so he told the hecklers, “Listen, he’s an amateur — it’s amateur night. Be nice. I’ll be up here in three minutes — f**k with me.” In three minutes, he was on stage, and one of the hecklers asked him, “What are you gonna do? Some of your taco-bender jokes?” Mr. Mencia shocked the black hecklers by saying, “No, I’m gonna do some n*gger jokes.” He then said, “Hey, you can’t get racial on me and think that I’m not gonna get racial on you. I’m not f**king white. I’m from the ghetto, so if this is what you f**kin’ want, let’s f**kin’ do it.” The three black hecklers were Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and The D.O.C. Mr. Mencia was funny, and some of his comedy came at the expense of the three black hecklers, with the result that one of the three black hecklers yelled that he was going to shoot him. Fortunately, NBA star Shaquille O’Neal was present, and he told the heckler, “Naw, you ain’t, b*tch. You started that sh*t. View it.” Mr. Mencia did a couple of more jokes and then his show was over. Approximately five years later, Mr. Mencia ran into Dr. Dre, who told him, “You’re incredible. You’re one of the funniest guys out there. I also want to apologize because we were gonna shoot you that night. If Shaq hadn’t stepped in, you were gonna get shot!” (17)
The World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame
Former NBA star David Robinson is a 1998 inductee into the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame in Boise, Idaho. He once told a group of 5th graders that if they stayed off illegal drugs, tobacco, and alcohol, and if they maintained a C+ average, then he would give them college scholarships. Sure enough, seven years later Mr. Robinson awarded college scholarships to 72 high school seniors. Myron Finkbeiner started the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame to recognize deeds such as this. A former coach, Mr. Finkbeiner says, “When I was coaching, it was very important that the kids that played under me, if they were not a better person at the end of the year from when they started, I felt like I didn’t do a good job.” (15)
NBA Player Jamaal Magloire, Hero
In 2010, when single mother Lucita Charles was murdered in Toronto, Canada, leaving behind a seven-year-old son who has cerebral palsy, NBA player Jamaal Magloire stepped forward to help. He paid for Ms. Charles’ funeral expenses, and he set up a trust fund for her son. Mr. Magloire, a Toronto native, said, “It just really touched me, the fact it was a single mother and she left behind a special-needs child.” Mr. Magloire did not know Ms. Charles and her son. (16)
Not Frugal When People Need Help
Abe Pollin owned the Washington Wizards, having changed the team’s name from the Bullets, a name he considered offensive. Abe was not frugal when it came to helping other people. In 1984, he read a Washington Post article that stated that in Africa 40,000 children died each day from malnutrition. He called the Post to ask if the article was correct. It was, so he called UNICEF (The United Nations Children’s Fund) and said, “I want to help. I will do anything.” He became an honorary chairman of UNICEF. In 1997, he opened the Verizon Center, which he built with $200 million of his own money, and which revitalized a bleak area of Washington, D.C. After Linda Pollin, his daughter, died at age 16 of congenital heart disease, he opened the Linda Pollin Memorial Housing Project in Washington, D.C. Just before he died in November of 2009, he gave all of his employees a Thanksgiving bonus. He also made sure that the staff of the Washington Wizards would be able to leave work early because of the holiday. And he sent his wife of 64 years, Irene, a bouquet of yellow roses. (18)
Pass the Pumpkin
On 9 October 2010, Danny J. Niedecken, the pastor of St. Mark United Methodist Church in Cleburne, Texas, had a problem. A truckload of almost 2,200 bulk pumpkins was scheduled to arrive at the church, and he needed help unloading the pumpkins. He had sent out calls for help, and fortunately, the Cleburne High School Yellow Jacket football team responded, unloading pumpkins that day instead of lifting weights. Rev. Niedecken writes, “Unloading 2,200 bulk pumpkins, one at a time, is not an easy task, but this group of young men took on the task with a style and grace that made it look fun and easy. Forming a bucket-type brigade, as early town people did to fight a fire, this group, which also included [Coach Phil] Young and his own family, began handing one pumpkin at a time down the line.” The football team won only one game that year, but Rev. Niedecken thinks that they are winners in a bigger way: “The game of life, in the bigger picture, is not all about unloading pumpkins or what always happens on a football field, but the game of life is about character, integrity, work ethic and being involved with others. As I see it, we have an outstanding football team in our Cleburne Yellow Jackets. They will win the game of life!” (19)
The Bruce McNorton Football Camp
Former NFL player Bruce McNorton did not plan to host a football camp at the Derbyshire recreation complex in Daytona Beach, Florida — it just happened. Mr. McNorton and his son were throwing a football around when a couple of kids came up to them and asked if they could join them. Then they asked if the two would be back the following day. Joe Chirillo, a city rec department worker, heard about it and encouraged Mr. McNorton to host a football camp. Mr. McNorton says, “This is just a two-day camp, but it’s needed. I hope that we can expand it. More days, maybe a week or something like that. It’s a great feeling. When it first started, we were just out there messing around, and the kids came around. And they kept coming.” In the NFL, Mr. McNorton played for the Pittsburgh Steelers. In addition to having a home in Daytona Beach, he has one in Detroit. A scout for the Steelers, he jokes, “I tell everybody my heart is in Detroit, but my paycheck is in Pittsburgh.” (20)
Fan Appreciation
In 2010, the Washington Capitals were eliminated by the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the NHL playoffs. Following the game, which was held in Washington, D.C., Capitals fans Mary Ann Wangemann and her 14-year-old daughter, Lorraine, were unhappy, but soon they had even more to be unhappy about — they got a flat tire. Fortunately, a man stopped and changed their flat tire for them. He was famous to hockey fans, and they immediately recognized him: Capitals center Brooks Laich. In addition to changing their flat tire, he also apologized for the Capitals’ elimination in the first round. Mary Ann said later, “When you think about what he was going through yesterday, just the disappointment …. Given everything else going on in his life, I just thought it was really remarkable. I want people to know it.” (21)
The First Modern Olympic Champion
The modern Olympics’ first champion was James Connolly, who competed in the 1896 Olympics Games in Greece — the first held since the year 369. He went to Greece even though he had to leave Harvard to do so — and even though Harvard authorities told him that he might not be allowed back into Harvard if he left to compete in the Olympics. Mr. Connolly withdrew the money that he had saved for school, paid his way to the Olympics, but had his pocket picked when the ship he and other American Olympians were traveling on stopped at Naples, Italy. Fortunately, Robert Garrett, a wealthy Princetonian and captain of Princeton’s track and field team, paid Mr. Connolly’s expenses to go to Greece and back to the United States. (Mr. Garrett also paid the expenses of three members of Princeton’s track and field team to compete in the Olympics.) At the Olympics, Mr. Connolly won the silver medal, which was at the time the first-place medal, in the triple jump. (Mr. Garrett did well, too, taking first place in the discus and the shot put.) (22)
“No One Distanced Themselves From Me, Not One Single Person”
Rugby legend Gareth Thomas is 6-foot-3 and 16 stone of muscle, and in 2005 he captained Wales to its first Grand Slam victory since 1978. Also, he’s gay. For a long time, he tried to live his life as if he were straight, but he was not able to. Eventually, he told his wife, Jemma, that he was gay, and they split up. On 4 November 2006, after a rugby game, he started crying in the locker room, and coach Scott Johnson asked him, “What’s up?” Mr. Thomas replied, “Me and Jemma have split.” Mr. Johnson then said, “Oh no, what’s happened?” Then he said, “I know what’s happened — I know what it is.” He had guessed that Mr. Thomas is gay. They went into another room, and Mr. Thomas confessed that he is gay. Mr. Thomas says, “After keeping it secret for so long, I felt a huge rush of relief.” Mr. Johnson then told him, “Right, I’ve got to speak now to three or four players in the Welsh team because you need the boys to surround you and support you. You can’t cope with this on your own.” Mr. Thomas sat in a bar, waiting for some of his teammates to show up and wondering what they would tell him. His teammates Stephen Jones and Martyn Williams showed up, patted him on his back, and said, “We don’t care. Why didn’t you tell us before?” Mr. Thomas says, “Two of my best mates in rugby didn’t even blink an eyelid. Martyn said he never had a clue, would never have thought it. I felt everyone was protecting me and closing in tight around me. No one distanced themselves from me, not one single person.” (23)
“We Should Be Proud of Young People Such as These”
The members of the Lebanon Valley College Rugby Team, a women’s team, stopped by the home of Joe Donley of Lebanon, PA, in November of 2010 and cleaned up his leaves. In a letter to the editor of the Lebanon Daily News, Mr. Donley wrote, “We should be proud of young people such as these who take the opportunity to do good deeds.” (24)
“I’m Not Much of a Home-Run Hitter”
On 30 April 1962, Billy Bradley practiced on his Little League baseball team in El Dorado, Arkansas, and then drank from the water fountain. A lightning bolt hit Billy, and at age nine he almost died. He lived, but he was blind. Fortunately, he was able to go to Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas. There, Dr. Louis Girard announced that he could restore Billy’s eyesight, but it would take three operations. Before the first operation, Billy and his parents went to a baseball game featuring the Houston Colt .45s, a team that is now called the Astros. They visited his favorite team’s locker room, and Billy met his favorite player, third-baseman Bob Aspromonte, who told him, “You’ll see again. You must believe that. And soon you’ll be playing baseball again. Now, is there anything I can do for you?” Billy had a request: “Please, Bob. Hit a home run for me.” Mr. Aspromonte was not a home-run hitter. In 1960, he hit one home run, and in 1961, he hit zero home runs, so he said, “I’m not much of a home-run hitter. How about a bunch of base hits?” Then he added, “You’re a ballplayer, Billy, so you know how hard it is to hit a homer. But I promise you, Billy, I’ll try as hard as I can.” Mr. Aspromonte did not get a hit in his first three at-bats, and Billy had to leave the ballpark to go to the hospital to get ready for the next day’s operation. But Billy was listening to the game on the radio when Mr. Aspromonte hit a home run. On the radio shortly after the game, Mr. Aspromonte said about the home run, “This one’s for you, Billy.” After two sets of operations, Billy was able to see, and the next season he attended another game, and he asked Mr. Aspromonte, “This time, will you hit one out that I can see?” Mr. Aspromonte replied, “Like I told you last year, I don’t know if I can, but I’ll do my best — for you.” Mr. Aspromonte was hitless in his first four at-bats, but in the bottom of the 10th inning, he went to bat with the bases loaded and the score tied at 2 — and he hit a game-winning grand-slam homerun. Later, after the third set of eye operations, Billy’s eyesight was fully restored. Again, he went to a game, and again he asked Mr. Aspromonte to hit a home run for him. Mr. Aspromonte replied, “I don’t hit many homers, but with you here, I really believe I’m going to hit one tonight.” In the first inning, Mr. Aspromonte went to bat with the bases loaded, and he hit another grand-slam home run. His team won, 7-3. In 1973, Mr. Aspromonte had been retired from major-league baseball for three seasons. He was working on a car battery when it exploded, blinding him with its acid. He needed surgery — the same kind that Billy had gotten — and he got the surgery from the same eye surgeon that Billy had used. Billy telephoned Mr. Aspromonte in the hospital and said, “You made me believe that I would see again. I know you’ll get your vision back like I did. Don’t lose faith.” Some of Mr. Aspromonte’s vision was restored; he got back 40 percent of his vision. (25)
“I’ve Never Forgotten Duncan and Rudi for It”
Some Baseball Hall of Fame inductees endured racism in their playing days. In 1967, when Reggie Jackson was playing in the minor leagues for the Oakland A’s in Birmingham, Alabama, he was the only black player, and he had a hard time finding a place to live. Also, because of Jim Crow, he could not go out and eat with his white teammates. Two of his white teammates, Dave Duncan and Joe Rudi, let him sleep on their couch. When the apartment manager found out what they were doing, the apartment manager did not like it. Mr. Duncan and Mr. Rudi said, “If he goes, we go.” Mr. Jackson says, “I’ve never forgotten Duncan and Rudi for it.” (26)
A Good Man
Branch Rickey was a good man who was a driving force in integrating major-league baseball by hiring Jackie Robinson. In 1904, Mr. Rickey was coach of the baseball team at Ohio Wesleyan University, where he witnessed the evil of racial prejudice at first hand. African-American Charlie Thomas played first base, and he was refused lodging at a hotel in South Bend, Indiana, because of the color of his skin. Mr. Rickey saw Mr. Thomas cry and wipe his hands, saying, “Black skin! Black skin! If only I could make them white!” Mr. Rickey later said, “I vowed that I would always do whatever I could to see that other Americans did not have to face the bitter humiliation that was heaped upon Charlie Thomas.” Mr. Robinson became a hero in Brooklyn, and he was a hero to African-Americans everywhere, but still he received death threats. After someone threatened to shoot him, his teammates helped relax the tension by joking that all of them would wear Mr. Robinson’s number — 42 — in their next game to confuse the gunman. (27)
Combating Prejudice
Back in the Jim Crow days, Althea Gibson was a major African-American tennis star. Unfortunately, white people dominated tennis, and the USLTA would not let her enter its competitions. White player Alice Marble challenged the USLTA to let Ms. Gibson compete against the best American players. Because Ms. Marble was so famous and so well respected, the USLTA changed its policy and let Ms. Gibson compete. Sometimes, not being a racist is well rewarded. English tennis player Angela Buxton needed a doubles partner, as did Ms. Gibson, so the two teamed up together — and they won the doubles championship at both the French Open and Wimbledon. In 1957, Ms. Gibson became the first black tennis player to win a singles’ championship at Wimbledon. (28)
Georgie
When they were young men, friends George Plimpton and Farwell Smith had a picnic together, then went for a walk on the beach. When they returned to the picnic site, they discovered that two 10-year-old boys were stealing their stuff. They chased after the boys, who ran off in different directions, and caught them. Farwell was angry and was dragging the kid he had caught, and he even cuffed him. But George and the other kid were holding hands, and the kid was calling him “Georgie.” Farwell says, “George’s way of dealing with it was to persuade him that he’d been bad and to not do it again. It was one of the most touching, true parts of George, and it made me feel like a terrible bully.” (29)
The Most Inspirational Person I Know
Ask Mark Mustian, author of The Gendarme, who the most inspirational person he knows is, and he will say, “My father. He grew up dirt-poor in Texas during the Depression. At times some of his family lived in a tent. He served in WWII, was injured during the war, but then sent back to the front. His commanding officer there told him he was needed because his replacements had been ‘too scared.’” After getting out of the military, he went to college on the GI Bill and became an administrator at a hospital. One day one of his assistants came to him, said that a man was outside the hospital begging for food, and asked what he should do. Mr. Mustian says, “My father reached in his pocket and gave the assistant a couple of bucks and said, ‘Buy the guy something to eat. I know what it’s like to be hungry.’” (30)
“Onward, to 2000!”
As a young man, Dominic Umile wrote author Ray Bradbury to tell him, “Happy birthday.” A few days after writing Mr. Bradbury, Mr. Umile received a note from the great man himself. The note was written on Mr. Bradbury’s personalized stationary — which Mr. Umile describes as “yellow cardstock with his address and a space-scape image in the margin” — and it contained two sentiments: 1) “Thanks for the kind words,” and 2) “Onward, to 2000!” As you would expect, Mr. Umile says, “I still have the envelope and the note.” (31)
Meetings with Celebrities
In 1934, Ray Bradbury’s family moved west, and he was able to skate around Paramount Pictures. As a young teenager, he saw comedian W.C. Fields and asked him for an autograph. Mr. Fields kindly gave him the autograph, but true to his irascible comic character, said to young Ray as he handed him the autograph, “There you are, you little son of a b*tch.” Young Ray also met George Burns in front of the Figueroa Playhouse on Figueroa Street. He asked the famous comedian, “Mr. Burns, you got your broadcast tonight, don’t you?” Mr. Burns admitted the fact. And young Ray asked, “You don’t have an audience in there, do you?” Mr. Burns admitted the lack of an audience, so young Ray asked, “Will you take me in and let me be your audience?” Mr. Burns did exactly that, putting young Ray in a front-row seat as he and his wife, Gracie Allen, performed their radio show. Young Ray showed up thereafter every Wednesday for their broadcast. An older, famous Mr. Bradbury met actress Bo Derek, who said to him, “Mr. Bradbury, I love you. Will you ride on the train with me to the south of France?” He did exactly that, spending two days with her at a film festival. He says, “We became good friends.” (32)
Croquet and Leprosy
Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island, was a kind man. Molokai was the home of people with leprosy, and father Damien, who became afflicted with leprosy, served them. After Father Damien died, Mr. Stevenson paid a visit to Molokai. There, he visited the girls’ school, and he taught the young female students with leprosy how to play croquet. (33)
Publishing “Real Stories About Incest”
Sassy, a magazine for North American teenage girls, published some important articles. The writers once spent a day looking through reader correspondence. In particular, they were looking for letters in which the writer wrote about being a victim of incest. Each time they found a letter from a victim of incest, they rang a bell. Unfortunately, the bell rang more often than anyone expected. The article that appeared in Sassy was titled “Real Stories About Incest.” It told the stories of three girls who were victims of incest. Running the story took courage on the part of Sassy, as many advertisers were boycotting it because it had run some articles about sex that the religious right disliked. Shortly after the article ran, Citicorp Venture Capital, which controlled 60 percent of Sassy, asked Sandra Yates, the founder of Sassy, to resign. Ms. Yates says, “It remains the most painful episode of my working career.” (34)
“Do Small Kindnesses for People”
Amy Alkon, aka “The Advice Goddess,” does good deeds, as well as write an advice column for alternative newspapers. She advises, “Do small kindnesses for people.” For example, she buys and reads a newspaper every day. When she is finished reading it, she will look around wherever she is — often, she is in a café — and often see somebody who is looking for a newspaper. She will then ask, “Sir, would you like my newspaper?” She points out, “You’ve noticed a stranger, you’ve solved their problem, you’ve gone out of your way to do it and they’re gonna feel very good about that and I think people will tend to pass on good deeds, do other good deeds, if you do good deeds for them.” She adds that “it does make a difference.” (35)
“I was Adopted by the 6th Floor at Weyburn Hall!”
Anna Thomas is the author of The Vegetarian Epicure, which was published by Knopf when she was 24 and has sold over a million copies. When she was young, she went to Los Angeles and after a month she was broke. But she had some friends at UCLA who were living in a co-ed dorm in which males lived on some floors and females lived on other floors. Her friends were male, and they took her in. They cleared the top shelf of a big closet, and she slept there. She remembers, “At night, I’d get in my PJs and stand stiff as a board, and two of them would grab me by the ankles and the shoulders and just sort of vault me up into that shelf. That’s where I slept.” In addition, people shared their meal cards with her so that she could eat. She says, “I was adopted by the 6th floor at Weyburn Hall!” (36)
“Sometimes, our Fate is in the Hands of a Perfect Stranger”
In April of 2010, syndicated columnist Susan Estrich was walking in New York City when “[t]he world started spinning,” she says. “I literally couldn’t see straight.” It was a hot day, she had not slept much the previous night, she had drunk lots of coffee, and she had not eaten for several hours. Fortunately, a woman saw her and asked her if she needed help. Ms. Estrich said that she did in fact need help. The woman called for an ambulance and stayed by Ms. Estrich until the ambulance arrived. Ms. Estrich says, “I was carrying a purse full of credit cards and money. I was still carrying it when I got to the hospital. I was wearing an expensive watch and a fancy (looking) ring. I was still wearing them when I got to the hospital. She could have slipped off the watch or the ring, or looked in my purse for my ID and found hundreds of dollars and a stack of credit cards. I would not have known or cared.” Ms. Estrich thanked the woman in a 14 April 2010, column: “Sometimes, our fate is in the hands of a perfect stranger, who we never get to thank. This is the best I can do. Thank you. And God bless you.” (37)
“Dear”
One of the things that Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., believes firmly is this: “God d*mn it, you’ve got to be kind.” One of the things that cheers him up is buying a morning cup of coffee in New York City, which he describes as mad for money. He says, “You can go into a little café and the waitress calls you ‘dear’ even though she knows the bill will be a small expenditure and the tip tiny. So she is responding to you as a person and feels happy and wants to communicate.” (38)
Two Replies to an Anti-Semitic Publishing Company
In the summer of 1938, Germany was already displaying great prejudice toward Jews. A publishing company that was preparing a German translation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy novel The Hobbit wrote him to make sure that he had no Jewish ancestry. Mr. Tolkien was not an anti-Semite, so he wrote a flat reply to the publishing company in which he declined to reveal anything of his ancestry. However, he felt that he had an obligation not to do anything to hurt the profits of his publishing company, Allen & Unwin, and so he drafted another reply to the German publishing company: “[…] I regret that I am not clear as what you intend by arisch [Aryan]. I am not of Aryan extraction: that is Indo-iranian; as far as I am aware none of my ancestors spoke Hindustani, Persian, Gypsy, or any related dialects. But if I am to understand that you are enquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people.” Mr. Tolkien then sent both replies to Allen & Unwin and let the publishing company choose which reply to send. The publishing company sent the flat refusal to give the German publishing company any information about Mr. Tolkien’s ancestry. A German translation of The Hobbit did not appear in print until 1957. (39)
A Perfect Soundbite
As a newby in his newspaper’s features department, Sam Wollaston had to do ring-rounds. In these, the journalist telephones a number of famous people to get quotations about such things as what gifts they got for Christmas. Several of these quotations make up an article for the newspaper. Mr. Wollaston hated doing these; he writes, “It is, I imagine, a bit like working in an Indian call centre, but instead of the general public telling you to bugger off then hanging up, it’s the great and the good.” He once had to telephone Quentin Crisp, author of The Naked Civil Servant, in New York. Mr. Crisp knew how to treat a journalist. Mr. Wollaston writes, “Instead of telling me to go away, he was absolutely charming and delivered me a perfect soundbite, wise and witty, all ready-made and gift-wrapped in purple. Quentin Crisp was very good at that — talking as if he knew that someone was writing his words down to print them, which someone generally was.” (40)
Tutoring in Math
When Christopher Paul Curtis, author of the children’s book Bud, Not Buddy, was ten years old, he opened the door of his home and found a group of strange men outside. He remembered his father’s rule about not opening the door to strangers, and worried, but the men were people from the factory where his father worked. His father spent months tutoring them in math, so that they could get better-paying jobs at the factory. (41)
Avoiding the Shattering of a Delicate Point Of View
F. Scott Fitzgerald was thought to be a spendthrift, but actually he was careful with money so that he would be able to work on his novels. However, the illness of his wife, Zelda, forced him to spend large amounts of money to take very good care of her. Occasionally, well-meaning friends recommended ways for him to reduce his expenses, but often Mr. Fitzgerald was unable to accept the recommendations. On 16 October 1936, he wrote to Max Perkins, his editor at Scribner: “Such stray ideas as sending my daughter to a public school, putting my wife in a public insane asylum, have been proposed to me by intimate friends, but it would break something in me that would shatter the very delicate pencil end of a point of view.” By the way, when Mr. Fitzgerald was filling out his income-tax forms, the United States government had no way of double-checking — as it has now — that the taxpayer had reported all income. However, Fitzgerald scholar William J. Quirk’s examination of Mr. Fitzgerald’s financial records and income-tax returns shows that he was “impeccably honest in his reporting.” (42)
A Gift from a Tough Guy
Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges spent much time in the Northside area of Buenos Aires. Northside was frequented by hoodlums and tough guys who were basically old and retired when Mr. Borges met them. One old tough guy Mr. Borges met was Nicholás Paredes, who lived in great poverty but who had great pride and insisted on giving guests to his home a gift. When Mr. Borges visited him, then prepared to leave, Mr. Paredes told him, “No one leaves my house empty-handed, Borges.” He searched his house for something to give Mr. Borges, and he found an orange. Mr. Borges valued Mr. Paredes’ friendship, and he says he wishes that he could have preserved that orange forever. (43)
A Valuable Gift
In 1985, Cosima Von Bulow, the daughter of Claus Von Bulow, turned 18 years old. The circumstances were bad. Her mother was in a coma, and her father was accused of putting her in a coma by administering too much insulin to her in an attempt to murder her. Ordinarily, Cosima would have received a valuable gift from her mother, who had gifted two older children in that manner when they turned 18. Of course, her mother was in no condition to give Cosima a gift and the people administering the mother’s estate did not give Cosima a gift — Cosima sided with her father when he was accused of murder. Andy Warhol heard about what had happened, and he gave Cosima a valuable painting that he had created. By the way, Andy Warhol regularly served dinner to the homeless on Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas at the Church of the Heavenly Rest in New York. (44)
People Who Live in Glass Houses
When Philip Johnson built his Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut, many people disliked it, and some people even threw stones at it. This caused Mr. Johnson to visit neighbors’ house and throw stones, too, an act that got him in trouble with the law. Mr. Johnson and a few other local artists with unusual homes knew that their neighbors disliked their taste in architecture. Thinking about how to get on the good side of their neighbors, they decided to hold a tour of their homes annually, with the money going to a local charity. The tours were a great success, but one neighbor lady still told Mr. Johnson that she never wanted to live in his Glass House. He replied, “Madam, I haven’t invited you.” (45)
Food Can Be an Important Gift
When Patti Smith decided to go to New York to be an artist, she almost did not make it because the bus ticket cost more than she thought it would. Fortunately for her, she found a purse in a telephone booth. It contained a brooch and $32, which was a significant amount of money back then. She took the $32, but left the brooch and the purse, hoping that its owner would come back and find it. Taking the money allowed Patti to go to New York and become an artist. She writes in her autobiography, Just Kids, “I can only thank, as I have within myself many times through the years, this unknown benefactor. She was the one who gave me the last piece of encouragement, a thief’s good-luck sign. I accepted the grant of the small white purse as the hand of fate pushing me on.” A more conventional good deed was performed in New York when a hungry Patti Smith ran across a barefoot street person whom she describes as “Saint, my guide, a black Cherokee with one foot in the street and the other in the Milky Way.” He saw her and asked, “Hey, sister. What’s your situation?” She replied, “On earth or in the universe?” He laughed and said, “All right!” He then took her with him as he made his rounds along a street lined with cafes. He and the cooks knew each other, and they would talk and he would ask, “Got anything for me?” They gave him day-old bread and lettuce that would soon go bad, and he and Patti went to the park, sat together on a bench and ate lettuce sandwiches. Patti commented, “A real prison breakfast,” and Saint replied, “Yes, but we are free.” For a few days, they ate together and slept separately, and once they shared a real breakfast after Patti found 50 cents in the park. But then Saint stopped showing up in the morning at the place they regularly met. That was OK with Patti, who comments, “He had given me what I needed to keep going.” Another good-deed doer was Frances Finley. Frances and Patti worked together at Brentano’s, but Patti was still very short of money, so Frances sometimes brought her homemade soup. As hungry people know, food can be an important gift. By the way, the title of Patti’s autobiography, which is also a biography of her great friend Robert Mapplethorpe, comes from a day when two tourists, a husband and wife, saw them. The wife wanted her husband to take a photo of Patti and Robert because she thought that they might be artists, but her husband said, “They’re just kids.” (46)
Behaving Heroically When Every Second Counts
On 30 July 2010, Matthew Leone, bassist of the rock band Madina Lake, responded to cries for help from a woman who was being beaten by her husband. He tried to separate the two, but the husband beat him and left him unconscious with severe head injuries. The woman’s husband was arrested. Doctors removed part of Matthew’s skull while waiting for the swelling of his brain to go down, and then they reattached the part of the skull they had removed. Matthew had no health insurance, but many musicians and bands and other people rallied to raise funds for his medical care. Benefit concerts by such groups as Smashing Pumpkins and Kill Hannah and auctions with items donated by such luminaries as Madonna, Marilyn Manson, Metallica, Nickelback, Gene Simmons, Pete Wentz, and many more have raised money for his medical care. In addition, the charity organization Sweet Relief raised tens of thousands of dollars for his medical care. JVO of Chicago Now wrote, “And let’s be clear: Matthew’s not a big guy. Both the twins [Matthew’s identical twin is Nathan] look like they could use more butter, burgers, and ice cream in their diets. And yet, despite his size, Matthew behaved heroically in an every-second-counts scenario. Justifiably, his actions and their results have resonated across countries and social circles.” (47)
Giving Credit Where Credit is Due
Henry Rollins can admit when he is wrong, and he can give credit when credit is due. Kira Roessler played bass with hardcore group Black Flag from December 1983 through September 1985. Mr. Rollins, singer for Black Flag, did not like her much. The last song of her last gig with Black Flag was “Louie Louie” and Mr. Rollins used the song to rip her apart by singing his own made-up lyrics about what a “rancid b*tch” she was. Actually, even though he didn’t like her, she was tough. Mr. Rollins remembers once when Ms. Roessler went into a bathroom and a woman started beating on her. Ms. Roessler’s hand was hurt pretty badly, but she played anyway. Mr. Rollins wrote in his journal, “She’s tough. I don’t like her very much, but I sure respect her.” In the 2nd edition of his book Get in the Van: On the Road with Black Flag, which consists mainly of Mr. Rollins’ journal entries while he was with Black Flag, Mr. Rollins regrets having been so hard on her. He writes, “We were living hard in those days and a lot was asked of us and we weren’t always that kind to each other. […] things were very strained in those days. We lived on top of each other, and too high stress levels were constant. In spite of all that, Kira never once complained. She was in the band for the brutal 1984 tour where the band played more often than it ate, a way of touring that would send most current bands running back for mom. The whole time, Kira hit it hard every night, took the same amount of sh[*]t the rest of us took, slept as little or less than anyone else in the band and crew and never broke, not to mention, she played great.” (48)
Hugs from Taylor Swift
Country music star Taylor Swift believes in hugging: “I’ve always been a hugger. If we all hugged more, the world would be a better place.” Michael Wekall and Ryan Leander, two 22-year-old seniors at Auburn University in Alabama, also believe in hugging. In fact, in 2010, they set two humorous goals for their lives: “1. Hug Taylor Swift and 2. Die happy.” To achieve their goal, they created a Facebook group (A Hug from Taylor Swift — please join), they began tweeting (@ahugfromtaylor — please follow, T. Swift does), and they got help to create a website and logo (AHugFromTaylorSwift.com). They also posted on YouTube some videos that documented their quest to hug Ms. Swift. All of this attracted the attention of the 19-year-old Ms. Swift, who posted on YouTube a video in which she stated that “these guys seem very dedicated, and they seem like they would be game for some fun, like, some challenges or something like that. Maybe they’d video them and put them up on their sites so I could see it … something that kind of like, I don’t know, we’ll start simple, maybe something that kind of improves humanity. … Let’s start with like the basic good deed: helping a little old lady across the street. Film it, and put it up. That’s your first challenge.” Ryan and Michael met that challenge: They helped across the street a 91-year-old ex-Auburn professor with the assistance of Aubie (the Auburn mascot) and 50 or 60 other people. In fact, they also asked other people to help an old lady across the street and film it, and they put online a compilation video of lots of people helping little old ladies across the street. Impressed, Ms. Swift tweeted, “Last week I challenged these guys to help an old lady cross the street. Never expected to see this level of greatness!” Then Ms. Swift made a second challenge: to use her lucky number, 13, while doing another good deed, and to post a video of it. They did. The video showed themselves and other people sending 13 of Ms. Swift’s CDs as well as greeting cards and stickers to 13 children’s hospitals. The final challenge was at appear — and bring a crowd of people — at a certain time in the auditorium of a certain hotel at Auburn University to sing karaoke. A filmed message from Ms. Swift appeared on screen — she said, “I really wish I was there to see that” — and then she surprised people by showing up in person on stage. She sang a couple of songs for the 250 people in the audience, and then talked with Mr. Wekall and Mr. Leander backstage. And yes, they got their hugs. (They wore “A Hug from Taylor Swift” t-shirts; she wore “A Hug for Ryan and Michael” t-shirt.) Mr. Leander’s cheek even had lipstick on it. He said, “I’ll try not to wash it, but I have to take a shower sometime.” (49)
Download this book for your ebook reader.
(Pages 1-22 show above.)